Shadows
by Poozie
Summary: Georgiana Quinn hated watching her corrupt father control everyone like a puppet, including her. She wants her freedom, but at what cost? Joker-in-the-very-beginning... *Joker/OC - OC-centric story*
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Georgiana heard them enter her father's office. Like always, she took that as her cue to leave the house and wander over to her favourite haunt – one of the rare places where her father never bothered her, The Water Garden.

Opening the door of her bedroom slowly, she crept out quietly on her toes, gracefully touching the varnished wooden floor boards. On approaching the large and impressive office door, Georgiana noticed the door was ajar and could hear the men talking. "God, don't let them notice me", she thought as her manicured nails dug into the palm of her hands. She could see three male figures in the office, luckily two were sat in the chairs that were opposite the huge desk her father had imported from Italy, and therefore could not directly see her walking by. However, there was another male, a tall young man who was not much older than her, leaning against her father's floor-to-ceiling book case, who could see her if he were to turn his face slightly to the left. She held her breath.

"Hugo. I think we all know why I've decided to pay you a visit". Georgiana shuddered as she instantly recognised who that strong, Gotham-accented voice belonged to. None other than the devil himself; Carmine Falcone.

"And I thought it was because you were merely fond of me." Even though she couldn't quite see him, Georgiana could imagine his handsome face relaxing into a broad smile as he said this. Whenever she thought of her father, it always struck her as odd that someone who could be so attractive on the outside was so very, very unattractive on the inside. She saw right through him.

"Cut the shit _Quinn. _Have you got that contract we talked about or not?"

Georgiana had heard enough. They were discussing the lucrative state contract for the city trash collection, and her father had promised to throw it Falcone's way. Her father knew the right people to bribe.

As she started to move away, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up sharply. "What ?" she asked herself. "If you don't leave now Georgie, you know what'll happen". That thought made her shudder. Flashes of her father's belt came into her mind, and the stinging bitterness that followed. However, the threat of punishment did not stop her moving her head slowly to the right, and finding herself looking straight into a pair of black eyes.

They stared at each other for a matter of seconds, but it felt so much longer to her. She could feel her green eyes widen as the young man by the bookcase gave her a small smirk. Tearing herself from his intense gaze, she gently moved on past the office door, trying desperately not to make a sound, and made it to the staircase. Her heartbeat was thudding inside her chest, threatening to break the silence of the landing.

Looking back to her father's office to make sure nobody had followed her; Georgiana raced down the stairs and ran over the black and white marble tiled floor to the front door.

Once outside, she didn't stop running until she reached the Water Garden.

Instantly as she reached her haven, she breathed out slowly. The only small place of the 'illustrious' Quinn Corporation that Georgiana felt truly at home was stretched out beneath her.

When her Grandfather, Teddy Quinn had built Quinn Hall in the 1940s, he had meant it to dwarf Wayne Manor in every way. Not only were the turrets and wings of the hall even grander than the Wayne's home, but the gardens were unequalled. There were four main gardens that hugged each corner of the house – the Tulip Patch, Folly's Walk, the Rose Garden and of course her favourite, the Water Garden.

Georgiana lowered herself down by the edge of the Koi carp pond and peered over into the water, studying her reflection. "Yes, a true Irish princess, I suppose" she said frowning at herself as she took in her long red hair, pale porcelain skin and green eyes.

Turning to lie on her back, she then raised her left arm and without even looking, located a small leafy bush to her left with her fingers and pulled a book from it.

'Heart of Darkness; by Joseph Conrad' – definitely not a book her pathetic school would ever encourage her to read. No, sweet, 'proper' young ladies must only read stories like Little Women, stories that don't contain any...rawness.

"whatcha...eh.. reading there?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I forgot to add the author notes to the first chapter so apologies for that!**

**Hope you enjoy the story and if you have any comments /questions at all please feel free to send them to me.**

**Disclaimer: I really, really don't own any creations of DC or Chris Nolan – just original characters only.**

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**Chapter 2**

Georgiana almost threw the book into the pond at the sound of his voice. She stood up quickly trying not to look as startled as felt, and simply stared at him.

He had appeared a few steps behind her and was resting on his haunches, gently making circles in the grass with his index finger. He stayed in this position as she had gotten up, and tilted his head to the side like a dog. "You're not...special ed are you?" he whispered, and then quite rudely winked at her.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at him, clutching the book to her chest as though it would shield her from this unwanted intruder.

"Well, I think I'm trying to make conversation with someone? Sorry, I didn't catch your name princess?" He stood up to his full height and made like he was about to step forward towards her, but Georgiana took a step back and felt the leafy bush's twigs dig into her back. He noticed this, and seemed to respect her need for space. Although he did give her the toothiest grin she had ever seen.

Looking at him, she could see he was good looking and so much taller than her 5 foot 4 inch frame! He was thin and long limbed, but his face didn't quite have the masculine look that her father's had, but that was clearly only due to his youth. She had mistaken his eyes for black in her father's office, but they were actually a very dark chocolate brown, with flecks of gold that appeared in them.

"I didn't tell you my name." She stated boldy, "Answer the question: what are you doing here? Did my father send you or something?"

"Uh, no. I don't think your dear ol' dad would send me after you." He laughed, and Georgiana hoped he couldn't see the light blush that fell on her cheeks. "I was just taking a walk around these absolutely _beautiful _gardens that you have in your lovely home, when I just happened to come across you." The way he was talking to her made her feel like he was mocking her, laughing at the sumptuous surroundings that they were in, that deep down she knew she took for granted, and this only added to her fury.

Trying hard to keep her temper under wraps and keeping her voice as level as possible, she told him, "Look, I don't think you really understand what you're doing. Just turn around and walk away." This simply made him smirk.

"Aw come on doll face, why so serious? You had that same face on you when you were peeping through your dad's door at me."

"What! I was not...um...peeping at you! God!" Georgiana had wrinkled her nose at him and looked so horrified that he couldn't help himself from bursting out laughing.

"Jeez, lighten up..." he kept turning his hand in a circular motion indicating to her that she should finish his sentence for him.

All he got in return was a raised eyebrow.

"...Doris?"

"Oh my God, if I tell you my name will you stop bothering me?"

He caught his chin in his hands as though weighing up this bargain. "Hmmmm." His index finger tapped his chin "hmmmmmm...I don't know..."

"Oh for –"

"Your name's Ofer? That Irish?"

" No you idiot, it's Georgiana!" She clasped her hand over mouth over. _Shit! Shit! Shit! S_he shouted internally to herself.

"Ah hah!" he pointed at her "Georgiana – that's it!" He was clearly looking very pleased with himself, and Georgiana wanted to knock the stupid look off of his face. She straightened her posture, just like Miss Marlow had shown the girls at school how to do and lifted her chin ever so slightly. _Time to put this boy is his place._

" I have to go now, please excuse me Mr..." she mimicked his hand gestured, and his smile reached his eyes this time.

"How old are you?" _Oh for the love of...OK just indulge him, he'll probably get bored. He's technically just hired help...in a disturbing way _Georgiana mused.

Letting out a large sigh, Georgiana answered, "16...and dare I ask...you?"

"17" he puffed his chest a little when he said this, as though this would make up for his lack of years.

"Wow, Falcone starts them young doesn't he."

"Well, not usually but he saw a certain something in me..." he trailed off at the end of the sentence, and his eyes slid to the ground only for them to find Georgiana's feet. He looked up the length of her body very slowly and once he reached her eyes, he caught them in an intense locked gaze. The air had grown very still, and the birds had even stopped chirping. Or perhaps Georgiana was simply not aware of anything, except this unusual boy "...I have a certain talent for making trouble, don'tcha know."

_I bet you do,_ She laughed inwardly. Trying desperately to tear her eyes away from him, she looked at his shoulder and saw he had a bright purple thread on his jacket lapel. Without thinking she raised her hand and picked it off. His eyes widened in surprise as she asked in a much more nonchalant way than she really felt, "So, what's _your_ name?"

"Napier. Jack Napier."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again I've been away for a couple of days visiting family but I'm back home so can update again – yay! Sorry not much of Jack in this chapter, but he will be back with a vengeance in Chapter 4!**

**Hope you're enjoying the story – if you've got any comments please feel free to send them to me.**

**Disclaimer: I really, really don't own any creations of DC or Chris Nolan – just original characters only.**

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**Chapter 3**

Georgiana was genuinely lightheaded as she made her way back to her room. Jack had ended their meeting quite abruptly, it was as though he had finally realised that perhaps what he had done (she just _knew _he had followed her to the Water Garden) was a mistake. The best way she could describe his behaviour was 'torn'. She didn't understand why he should feel that way, after all they didn't know each other. He quietly said he had to go and then turned to walk away, but as he was leaving he looked over his shoulder at her with a look she could not recognise, but it made her feel...funny.

Back in her bedroom and getting ready for dinner, Georgiana found herself thinking about so many things that she had buried deep inside of her.

She knew she had absolutely no experience with boys, even though she was 16. Georgiana had only ever attended all girl schools her entire life and meetings with the opposite sex were few and far between. Obviously she had been to parties but they were ALWAYS chaperoned events. She had also seen films where boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after. But even from her limited experience she had a feeling inside that life was never so simple or as easy as that. There was her best friend Charlotte's older brother, Frederick (or 'Freddie' as he was known as) who she thought was quite nice, until one time about a year ago; she had gone to their home for Charlotte's birthday. They were also living on the outskirts of Gotham, (in the 'country, as her father would say) in a palatial colonial style home. It was Charlotte's 16th birthday and as was befitting their status as one of the old money families of Gotham, the party was extremely elegant. It was summer and the party was being held outside in the gardens of the home. Lawn croquet had been set up, sumptuous delicacies were served up on long tables with exquisite lace table cloths and a string quartet was filling the air with soft melodies.

Georgiana had performed her social duties to perfection, and so had decided to award herself with a little time to explore the maze that Charlotte's father, Richard Lawrence, had planted soon after he had married Charlotte's mother.

Walking through the maze, she had come across Freddie smoking a cigar. Giving him a small smile, she spoke to him: 'I assume that you know your way to the centre of the maze?' Freddie looked up and his gaze flickered over her (just thinking about this again made Georgiana shudder). 'Well hello Georgie! How are you?' He had then kissed the side of her cheek, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable, but she thought it would have been 'rude' to let him see that. "Oh, the same old really. And yourself?"

"I'm attending Princeton in the fall to study politics, which has obviously delighted the old man." He rolled his eyes at that_. Yes_, Georgiana thought at the time, _I can relate to that sort of parental pressure._

"Where does Hugo want you to attend?"

"He's mentioned Gotham U – I'll be closer to home that way." Freddie snorted at that.

"Ah yes, protective father syndrome" Freddie raised his eyebrows and blew some smoke in the air. "Anyway I believe you wanted to find the centre of the maze – come on I'll show you." He held out his hand, and Georgiana did falter slightly but she took it anyway.

As they were walking, Freddie had started to rub the palm of Georgiana's hand with his thumb and was humming a tune she did not recognise. After for what seemed like an eternity, they had come across a large tree that marked this as the centre of the maze. Then everything moved very quickly. Freddie had pinned Georgiana up against the tree and tried to kiss her. Georgiana was so shocked for a moment she had frozen, but once she had come to her senses she squirmed to get out of his vice-like grip with every ounce of strength she had. "You creep" she breathed out. "Oh come on Georgie, It's not like I'm old or ugly", he said as he moved his hand to her waist. Georgiana took this opportunity to raise her knee sharply and introduce it to his privates. As he stepped back, she pushed him and he fell to the floor, and then ran as fast as she could...

Georgiana shook her head to dispel the thoughts. She looked at herself in the mirror and brushed her long red hair. "I suppose you should go down to dinner, wouldn't want to upset father would you now?" And her reflection looked sadly back at her.

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"Charlotte called for you earlier, but you were nowhere to be found." Hugo didn't look up from his dinner.

"I'm sorry daddy, I was out walking earlier. I'll call her after dinner." There was a long pause before her father replied.

"Yes, make sure that you do. " He seemed preoccupied, more so than usual. She wondered if the meeting with Falcone had gone as planned. "Charlotte's father told me Freddie had asked after you, he's back for the summer now." Georgiana froze. "Oh really?" She said sweetly while trying not to gag, "How thoughtful."

"Perhaps you'll bump into him if you go and visit Charlotte." _That's decided then, I'll meet her in the city at Saks tomorrow _Georgiana thought to herself.

She smiled gently at her father "Yes, perhaps" and tried to look as coy as she could.

"Excellent" Her father replied and continued to eat without speaking to his daughter.

The next day, Georgiana had arranged to meet Charlotte at Saks on St. Mark's Avenue. She thanked her lucky stars that Charlotte didn't think much of Freddie either, especially after Georgiana had wept on her shoulder after the maze incident.

"Don't worry Georgie, I'll protect you." her friend put her hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. They were sitting down for a coffee before they began shopping. Georgiana looked up into her friend's earnest blue eyes and gave her a nod. "Thank you, but I'm not sure how you can."

"I just won't leave you alone with him! What did Rebecca call it? Cockblocking!" She had said the last part quite loudly, which made Georgiana giggle and shush her friend "Not so loud Charlotte, cafe walls have ears!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes "I don't care. I really don't! I'm sick and tired of doing what's expected and what's seen to be 'proper'. "

"Yes, 'seen' is the right word. If you're not 'seen' you can do what you like."

Charlotte nodded in agreement, while she flicked her soft brown curly hair over her shoulder. She leant in and said in a conspiratorial whisper:

"I've already informed my father I intend to be an artist instead of going to college."

"And how did he take that?"

"I don't think he was aware I was even in the room," she replied miserably. Unfortunately for Charlotte, Freddie was the golden boy; the apple of her father's eye. Charlotte was deemed a spare wheel.

"Perhaps, he'll be more aware of you if you rack up the biggest credit card bill ever in the history of Saks..." They both laughed and Charlotte waggled her credit card in her fingers, "Oh yes, ohhhhh yes."

Unfortunately at the first concession they stopped at, Charlotte's card was rejected. "I'm so sorry Miss Lawrence" The Sales Assistant was clearly very embarrassed, but Charlotte was dumbfounded.

She turned to Georgiana "What happens now?"

"We should go to your bank and ask them what's going on. You're at GC bank aren't you?"

"All right, it's not far from here anyway..."

**Authors notes:**

**I based the maze on the one at Hampton Court Palace  . /hamptoncourtpalace/maze**

**And Saks on St Marks Avenue on (yes you guessed it) Saks on Fifth Avenue in New York!**


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! Here's chapter 4 – hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Funnily enough, I don't own any creations of DC or Chris Nolan – just original characters only.

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**Chapter 4**

They entered the bank and joined the back of the line for the cashier's window. Georgiana looked around at their surroundings and saw a mother and her young son standing at the side closest to the bank workers offices. He looked around 4 years old and was quite excited about something. She watched as the mother was kneeling and gently putting her son's jacket on him, talking to him softly – she looked like she was promising him ice cream or some other treat as he stopped quite suddenly and bit his bottom lip. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head as he nodded his agreement.

Georgiana smiled to herself, and saw the mother looking up triumphantly. She glanced towards the bank's entrance and her face fell in an instant. Georgiana looked around too, just as the first shot was fired in the air. Georgiana grabbed Charlotte and hit the floor.

"Everybody down on the floor, NOW!" Six men in grey boiler suits and black balaclavas made their way quickly through the bank, as the stocky man who had just screamed at them fired another shot into the air. "If anyone so much as breathes wrong, you'll get a bullet in your fucking face. So just sit tight, and it'll all be over soon." His thick Gotham accent made her think of Falcone immediately.

Georgiana scrambled around the side of the queuing counter, dragging Charlotte with her who was now weeping. "It's going to be OK, it's going to be fine" she said as she continued stroking Charlotte's arm. Georgiana tentatively looked around the side of the counter and saw there were now only three men watching the bank customers. She assumed the other three men had been sent to find the bank's safe.

The stocky man who had screamed at them earlier went up to the man closest to Georgiana and hoped he wouldn't see her peeping round the corner of the unit. The other man was a lot taller and slimmer than the stocky guy that she presumed was the leader. She could see from the body language, the stocky man was trying to assert his authority over the taller man – without much success. He was telling him to do something, and the taller man simply patted him on the head like a dog! It was such a bizarre thing to witness at this point, Georgiana had to stifle a giggle. But unfortunately, the stocky man heard her.

His head whipped round towards her direction and he saw her. She gasped and tried to hide but it was no use. She could hear his boots clomping their way over to where she was. She squeezed her eyes shut, but she felt him standing over her. Her arm was almost pulled out its socket when he grabbed her and pulled her from behind the counter. She kicked him in the shin without thinking, and he grunted in response. She could see in his eyes that he was extremely pissed at her. He raised his gun over his shoulder, ready to pistol whip her when his arm was bent back suddenly.

The taller man had grabbed him before he could hurt her. And she heard him whisper in the ear of the stocky man in such a venomous way it made her blood run cold: "Instead of beating little girls to a pulp, why don't you try and engage that one, _lonely_ brain cell of yours and take out the bank teller before he pushes the alarm system, hmmmm?" He then pushed the stocky man to the floor towards the teller's window, and produced a huge blade from his belt .

"Just a suggestion!" He said brightly to the stocky man and smiled widely, wielding the knife in one hand and a gun in the other.

"You crazy son of a..." he stopped suddenly, as the tall man threw the knife between the stocky man's legs, barely inches away from his private parts.

"You were saying?" He hissed dangerously at the man on the floor, whose mouth was opening and closing like a fish on land that was suffocating. He got up and went towards the bank tellers windows without much fuss after that.

The taller man turned to look at Georgiana who was kneeling on the floor still, and she saw his eyes through the balaclava's eye slits. Dark brown with flecks of gold. _Holy shit_, she thought to herself,_ it's him!_

Jack bent down to her and spoke very quietly to her "You need to follow my lead, OK?" She dumbly nodded, and said barely above a whisper "What about my friend?" He breathed out of his noise and his eyes flickered over to the girl who was now also peering wide-eyed round the corner of the counter at them. "She'll be OK, I promise. Now you ready?" She nodded again. Without warning, he grabbed her roughly by the arm and started dragging her towards the back of the bank.

The other man who was also with them watching the bank customers, saw them and called over: "Hey! You ain't got no time for that!" and cackled loudly. Jack wolf whistled back at him and yelled "There's always time for 'that', and besides I am a hell of a lot younger than you!" The other man bellowed with laughter and replied "Pftpp! Don't take too long!"

Georgiana was extremely red after that exchange between the two men, but she had to put her embarrassment to the back of her mind as Jack led her to the back door of the bank. Jack opened the door and outside was a large alley that held trash cans and dumpsters.

Jack let go of her arm, and she looked up to his face that was covered by his balaclava. "Thank you" she said softly.

He opened his mouth then shut it again. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them slowly and looked straight at her. He then did something very unexpected. He placed his thumb very gently on the dimple on her left cheek and sighed "Just what I need" and laughed. He sounded so sad when he said it and she felt a little sorry for him. She wished she had time to ask him what was wrong.

"I should go home, but I guess I owe you now." She gave a little laugh. He dropped his hand and came a little closer to her. In a deeper voice than she ever heard him use, he said "No charge necessary ma'am." When she had read in books about ladies swooning, she now understood exactly what that feeling meant.

Her breathing got a little faster as she murmured 'thank you' again. The moment was then suddenly broken by a loud crash inside the bank and Jack quickly turned his head. "I have to go." He turned back to her and gave her a very serious look – "You need to go home."

She nodded, and walked quickly away. Little did she know, Jack watched her until she was safely out onto the main street.


	5. Chapter 5

Helloooooo! Hope you're all fine and dandy and liking the story

I've put some character photos on my Twitpic profile if you wanted to take a look – the link is on my profile page.

Disclaimer: I've never even been in the same room as any DC writer/artist or Chris Nolan and therefore I'm fairly certain that I do not own any of their characters – just original characters only.

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**Chapter 5**

As soon as she entered the main street, she saw from a few feet away to her right, the police had surrounded the entrance of the bank with a barrier of their cars. Officers had their guns primed and at the ready, pointing towards the bank's large wooden doors.

Georgiana's ears throbbed from hearing all the sirens wailing, from all the people shouting and rushing to see what all the commotion was about. It would all seem rather exciting, probably to someone who was not even remotely involved. She stood transfixed, watching the scene play out in front of her. Her mind flickered back to Jack, who was still inside the bank doing God only knows what. A small voice appeared inside of her head, _I hope he gets out OK..._

She clenched her fists tightly: _he's just robbed a bank. What are you even thinking? He's not good. _

_How do you know? You don't even know him._

That made her heart jump as the realisation set in. She didn't know him. She didn't know why he would join Falcone's ranks at such a young age. All she did know was that she definitely _needed_ to find out. He had helped her; she was going to help him.

After taking one last lingering look at the bank, Georgiana crossed the road and made her way to the subway. She had to go and see her father.

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On the subway train, as it snaked its way under the belly of the city, Georgiana sat in the empty carriage and tried to stem her anxiety. She had pulled her small handbag around the front of her left side, and set it on her lap, and patted it periodically.

Letting her head fall backwards onto the head rest, she soon felt a tear escape and draw a delicate path down her face. She quickly wiped it away and concentrated her eyes on the ceiling of the train.

If her father were to find out that she had been present at the robbery and hadn't told him what had occurred straight away, he would have beaten the living snot out of her. Simply because Georgiana wouldn't be doing her...duty. Which meant namely keeping him informed (if required) of any major incidents that could affect his 'business dealings', and therefore would impact 'the family name'. _What a lovely family,_ she thought bitterly as she blinked another tear through her eyelashes

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As she walked through the lobby of her father's office building, people instantly became aware of her presence. They stopped talking amongst themselves and greeted her reverently. She smiled politely at the three receptionists who shared a vast glass desk that had 'Quinn Corporation' carved on it with silver Gotham Thin lettering. It had always reminded Georgiana of a slab of ice. She entered the elevator and before she could ask, the attendant had pressed the button for the top floor. "Already ahead of me I see Leonard." The attendant merely replied "Yes ma'am".

She exited the elevator and saw her father straight away. He was walking towards the elevator talking with a tall, elegant man who was around the same age as her father. But what struck her as quite charming was his brown bow tie. Her father suddenly looked up and clocked Georgiana. He painted a loving smile on his face and raised his hand to beckon her forward.

"Georgie, what a wonderful surprise! Please, Lucius, may I present my daughter Georgiana. Georgiana, this is Lucius Fox – all the way from Wayne Enterprises."

She raised her eyebrows at the news. Lucius laughed softly and shook her hand. "Yes Miss Quinn, you may well look shocked. But I do assure you our negotiations have been...pleasant." He gave her a warm smile, one that she returned wholeheartedly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fox; I do hope we'll meet again."

"Well, you won't have to wait too long Georgie." Her father raised his hand and placed it on Lucius's shoulder. "You'll see Mr. Fox at the Arkham Benefit that will be held in a fortnight, very soon after your birthday."

"Oh, your birthday! How old will you be Miss Quinn?"

"A lady has no memory, especially when it comes to her age Mr. Fox." Georgiana then gave him a bright smile, and Lucius and her father laughed, but she could see in Hugo's eyes that he was warning her not to go too far. "Georgie will be 17, Lucius."

Lucius took her hand again, and said "I wish you the most wonderful birthday Miss Quinn and I hope to hear all about it at the benefit." His eyes twinkled at her and he let go of her hand. She watched him and her father make their goodbyes and Lucius went down in the elevator.

"So Georgiana, shall we go into my office?"

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In his office Georgiana sat on one of the beautiful leather chairs. She gripped the handle of her tea cup so hard the edges of her fingers had turned white.

Her father had listened to what she had to say about the robbery without as much as a twitch. She had finished telling him and was now waiting for his response, but none was forthcoming. He sat and stared at her so hard she felt like she was going to going to shatter into a million pieces.

Hugo stood up and walked towards the right side of her chair. "Get up." He said without emotion. She placed her cup onto his desk and nervously complied. In return, she received a swift back handed slap from him and fell onto the arm of the chair. She cradled her face gently trying not to cry, her father hated it when she cried. He walked over to a beautifully engraved mahogany cabinet, which he opened and inside was a compartment for his vast array of spirits, glasses and a little ice maker. He took his handkerchief from his breast pocket and filled it with ice. "Here Georgiana, put this on your cheek."

She looked over her shoulder at him, and saw no remorse. She took the ice filled handkerchief from him and placed it to her face, wincing.

Hugo walked past her, and murmured at her in a bored voice, "Stay in here until you're fit to be seen." He didn't even look back at her as he exited the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi again – here's chapter 6 it's quite a long one, and I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I've never even been in the same room as any DC writer/artist or Chris Nolan and therefore I'm fairly certain that I do not own any of their characters – just original characters only.

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**Chapter 6**

It was early evening by the time Georgiana got home. She rushed through the front door and almost fell flat onto her face. She'd pushed all of the self-pitying thoughts out of her head; she had to find out how Charlotte was.

Making her way over to the phone in the hallway, she dialled Charlotte's number and waited for what seemed like forever. _Please, please, please pick up _she repeated in her head_. _Finally, a male voice picked up: "Hello?"

"Hello, can I talk to Charlotte please?" The words all came quickly, one after the other.

"Who's calling?"

"It's Georgiana." There came a slight pause after she said her name.

The voice at the other end of the line became a little softer and much more intimate: "It's been a while Georgie."

Georgiana sneered at the receiver, hoping he could feel the waves of disgust she was telepathically sending him. "...And boy, am I glad about that, _Freddie._"

Freddie sniggered and replied "Same old Georgie. I like that little temper of yours" the last part he murmured, "really gets me going, I can tell you."

Georgiana resisted the urge to throw the phone at the wall. "Shut up Freddie, put Charlotte on NOW!"

He laughed again "Anything for you Georgie! Oh and by the way, can't _wait _to see you again." Before she could respond, he had placed the receiver down and she could hear him shouting in the background for Charlotte.

Georgiana stared at the huge painting of a horse that was above her head. She'd always _hated _that painting.

"Georgie!" Charlotte's voice broke her concentration. "Oh my God it was so...awesome! That guy that took you came back for me as well, and he picked me up, and slung me over his shoulder! He smelt _reeeeeaally _good!"

She was stunned. Charlotte had been crying all that time in bank during the robbery, and Georgiana had almost been beaten by some goon! But clearly some quick body contact with a teenage boy had managed to skew Charlotte's perspective ever so slightly.

"OK then..." she trailed off "and you're not hurt or anything?"

"Nope, not a scratch! Although one of the other robbers said some pretty dirty things to the guy who was carrying me, and I did have to exit via some dumpsters - but you know, you can't have everything. But more importantly...DO YOU KNOW THAT GUY? "

It hadn't occurred to Georgiana that it might seem a little suspicious to someone on the outside. Why would a bank robber just randomly let her, and then later her friend, go during the middle of a heist?

"Of course I don't! What are you trying to say?" Georgiana fumed, but stopped herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been a long day."

Charlotte spoke a little quietly, "It's OK, don't apologise. I actually think maybe he took...a shine to you, I suppose" Charlotte let out a long and dreamy sigh.

"Pftp, yes of course." Her eyes rolled at that.

"Do you want me to come over?" Charlotte replied anxiously.

Georgiana smiled at her friend's tone. Yes she was incredibly ditsy, but she had a heart of gold. "I'm fine Charlotte, thanks. Could we take a rain check on it tomorrow?"

After hanging up, Georgiana made her way down the long hallway to the right of the main entrance of the house. She stopped at a room - a drawing room that had been slightly modernised, due to the fact this wasn't a room that guests were brought into. It was a room to feel comfortable in.

She picked up the remote on the coffee table and pressed a button. Two large wooden panels slid open to reveal a huge black television – She was just in time for Gotham Today's 6pm bulletin.

"_**Today in Upper East Gotham, police were called out to halt a bank robbery at Gotham City Bank. As the pictures show, Gotham police surrounded the building whilst calling for the robbers to release the hostages that were still trapped inside the bank.**_

_**The hostages were shortly released afterwards with no injuries. A swat team entered the building, where a gun battle then ensued."**_

Georgiana's eyes were as big as saucers as she continued to watch the pictures on the TV.

"_**One of the bank robbers was fatally wounded, and died later in hospital."**_

Georgiana turned off the TV quickly. She couldn't quite comprehend the last statement, and instead of dealing with it, she'd decided to turn the TV off. Her palms felt sweaty and her vision was getting a little blurry. She stumbled as she exited the room, and went outside of the house. She trailed slowly towards the South side, where the Water Garden was.

She lay by the side of her favourite spot by the Koi carp pond, and watched the fish swim. She leant her face gently into the water and the fish darted away. The cool water soothed her. If she just kept her face in there a little longer, she wouldn't have to deal with anything anymore...just slip away into the nothing.

She reared her head quickly out of the pond, spluttering and coughing. Slowly coming to her senses, she rubbed her face as dry as she could with her hands, and sat back Indian style. She held her chin in her hands _He's dead isn't he? No he couldn't be, or could he? _She had no way of knowing if Jack was all right and it tore her up inside.

She reached for her book from inside of the secret place in the bush. The dark lettering that formed the title 'Heart of Darkness' stood out viciously against the pale cover.

Opening the book at the place she last left it, her fingertips trailed under the words on the page as she spoke them aloud, for no one but herself:

"**I don't like work — no man does — but I like what is in work — the chance to find yourself. Your own reality — for yourself, not for others — what no other man can ever know."**

She thought about Jack, her father, even Falcone. _Your own reality. For yourself. Not for others._

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It was late that same night when she heard a 'tap, tap, tappity, tap, tap' against her bedroom window. Startled, she quickly slid off the bed and grabbed her hockey stick that was under her bed.

Carefully she walked up to the window, and heard the tapping again which made her jump. She pulled the pale brocade curtain back sharply with the hockey stick raised.

It was Jack. On the other side of her window, still tapping away, and grinning wickedly.

Her frown melted away into a genuinely happy smile. She dropped the hockey stick and unlocked the window and helped him through.

She couldn't help it, she had to hug him.

"Oooof!" She wrapped her arms around him tightly, with the side of her face resting on his chest – she could hear his heavy heartbeat thud.

"You're alive!" She couldn't contain her relief.

"Wow, you are one sharp cookie huh?"

She let go of him "I saw the news! All those policemen, swat teams...guns!" He was watching her with a mischievous look on his face.

"Oh yeah, Gotham's _finest..._doing what they do best..." He walked over to her bed and flopped down spread-eagled on top of it, 'FAILING! Ha!"

She was still watching him with a part happy – part stunned look on her face. She sat down on the chair at her dressing table.

"This bed...is amaaaaazing." His feet were hanging off the side, and he looked so out of place in her extremely feminine 'French country' style room, with his ripped dark blue jeans, black t shirt and black boots, she burst out with a laugh. He raised his head, and gave her a quizzical eyebrow. "Well, it is amazing" and his head flopped back down.

"How did you even get up here?" She asked softly.

He turned to lie on his stomach, and in the most lady-like pose he could muster, bent his legs at the knee and crossed them at the ankles. He held his face in his right hand and mimicked her soft voice:

"I climbed up here." He fluttered his eyelashes.

"Ha ha, very funny." She said through her smile. She launched a soft toy bear at him, and he caught it pretending it had got him at the jugular. He fell off the bed as the bear 'attacked' him.

"Jack! Shhhh!" She had to keep her giggles under control "What if someone hears you?"

His head popped up at the other side of the bed in a playful manner, and he replied "Your daddy isn't home."

"How do you know that?"

He got up and spotted a poster on the wall opposite her bed. "Do you like William Blake?" He asked her quietly_."The Agony in the Garden"_ It was like he was hypnotised.

Georgiana was very surprised. It was her favourite painting (obviously the real one was in the Gotham City Museum of Art) and she had bought a poster of it. Admittedly, it could be seen as a bit morbid, but she absolutely adored the picture nonetheless.

"Yes, I love him."

He turned sharply at that "Does he know?" and then laughed. Georgiana rolled her eyes at him.

"Do you like him too?"

"My favourite's _'Ghost of a flea'."_

Georgiana nodded and caught his eye. He was staring straight into her eyes, but it felt like he was seeing much more.

"Where's...my father tonight then?"

He walked towards where she was sat and knelt by her. He took hold of her hand and started examining her fingers one by one. "He's called a meeting with Falcone." He stated in a matter of fact tone.

She looked away "Oh. Were you not needed?"

He placed her hand carefully back onto her lap. He then looked up at her, almost what could be seen as a child like way. "I was given the night off. You free?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You wanna go out? See some sights? Go for a drink?"

"A drink? I don't have a fake ID or anything, and I will definitely get stopped."

"So, you like drinking?" He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she sucked her lips in trying not to laugh.

"You make me sound like an alcoholic!" Charlotte and she would always raid their father's liquor cabinets at the earliest opportunity. They may have not known anything about boys, but they could tell you what a good malt whisky was.

"Come on, I know a place you'll just love!" He stood up like a jack-in-the-box, "but you may have to change. This your closet?" he pointed behind him.

"Yes, that large closet-shaped object, is in fact...my closet." Jack opened it with a flourish, and continued to pull tops, skirts, trousers out onto the floor. Finally he pulled out a denim mini skirt and black t-shirt and handed them to her.

She took them and went to open her ensuite bathroom door, at which Jack booed and hissed. She stuck her nose in the air and gave him a snooty look, and stuck her tongue out before she entered the room and closed the door.

She emerged after a few minutes, and he gave her a low wolf whistle as he looked her up and down.

With her eyebrows raised, she pointed at him and said "down boy", and he saluted back.

Georgiana sat down at her dressing table, and applied a light amount of foundation. Her blusher next, and then framed the tops of her almond shaped eyelids with black eyeliner. Jack was watching her intently all the time. With a light dusting of mascara and her cherry lip gloss applied– she found a pair of black high heels to complete the look.

"Do I have to climb out of the window?" She mumbled sadly.

"No my princess, you can hang your gorgeous self off of me while I climb down for you!" he was practically yodelling at her. She shook her head and laughed "Well apparently, you can get the staff these days."

He offered her his hand and they made their escape out of her window.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello! Here's chapter 7

Disclaimer: Chris Nolan or DC have not created any of my characters, and vice versa! :P

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**Chapter 7**

Once they had climbed down from Georgiana's bedroom window, Jack led her down the gravel path towards the large metal gates that guarded Quinn Hall.

Outside of the gates to the left was a black and purple motorbike, Georgiana stopped suddenly as soon as she saw it. Jack walked past her and sat on the leather seat with absolutely no grace whatsoever. He beckoned her over with a curled index finger. "Here" he said as he plonked a black bike helmet into her arms, "you better wear this. The way I drive, you're gonna need it." he said with a devious smile.

"Wonderful." The sarcasm wasn't lost on him, as his smile got even wider.

Georgiana secured the helmet, and got on the back of the motorbike. Jack started the engine and it gave a huge roar as it came to life. "Hold on!" he shouted to her. She had barely put her arms around his waist before the bike had taken off, and rode into the night time that enveloped them like water.

They wound their way around the country roads for a little while until the Gotham city skyline came into their sight. Jack put his foot down, and they went even faster towards Gotham.

Once they were in the city, Georgiana looked up at all the high rise buildings that whooshed past them. They stopped at a set of traffic lights, and Georgiana caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of a shop window. She didn't recognise the girl in the short skirt, with her arms wrapped around an incredibly hot guy on the back of his motorbike. At that moment, she acutely felt a pang of sheer happiness...and freedom. She held on tighter to Jack, and he turned his head slightly to see if she was ok. She waved 'hello' at him and he grinned.

The lights turned green, and they took off again. They were headed towards the bad end of town, and that made Georgiana a little nervous. Sure enough, they were going over the graffitied bridge that was the main entrance to the Narrows.

The difference was incredible. Gotham City itself was relatively well kept and fairly modern. Here in the Narrows, Georgiana felt almost sorry for the place. You could see it had once been beautiful, the 'old' Gotham, that had been replaced by a younger model. The buildings were run down and decaying due to the lack of care. _This place is like Gotham's soul, beaten black and blue by...people like my father, probably. _Georgiana mused silently.

They finally stopped at an old building that had a green light hanging outside of it. The door was a large metal one, that Georgiana imagined was what a prison door would look like. Jack parked his bike outside the building and they both hopped off, and before she could stop him, he pulled down her skirt slightly as it had ridden up. She pinched his arm as he did it, and he pouted. "I was being nice!"

Georgiana laughed, and pointed to the door "What is this place?"

"This is...the place." And without any further explanation, he knocked on the door three times.

A little part of the door slid to the side and a pair of eyes looked straight at Jack. He tried to poke them, but the opening slid shut before he could. Suddenly the sounds of bolts and locks being undone echoed through the door, and it swung open from the inside. They walked in, and Georgiana could have sworn the doorman growled at Jack. As they walked down the corridor, they came across a coat check place, where a young woman with a few piercings dotted around her pale face sat behind the counter. Jack turned to face the girl, "Hey J, haven't seen you around for a while" she said in a voice that didn't match her face at all. It was too dark and velvety, but Georgiana found herself quite liking it.

"Yeah I know" he leant himself down on the counter, "anything _exciting_ happen while I've not been around_?"_

"Donny was looking for you today...about his brother." The girl smirked at that and leant forward "Something about a bank job, and the fact he got whacked during it."

Jack tilted his head to the side "Yeah, he ran into a bullet with his name on it." He wet his lips and turned to Georgiana. "How rude of me! I haven't introduced you! Princess, this is Talia. Talia...Princess." The girl called Talia laughed and went to shake Georgiana's hand, "Enchanted, Princess." Georgiana wasn't entirely sure if they were laughing at her but she decided not to show her unease.

"You too, Talia." She then turned to faced Jack, "Come on sugarballs, you said you'd buy me a drink." Talia threw her head back and howled, while Jack tried to keep a straight face but completely failed. He put his hand on the small of her back and sweetly said 'Arsenic, dear?"

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When they finally entered the bar, Georgiana had never seen anything like it. Subterranean was the best way to describe it, and it was absolutely buzzing with people of all kinds of shapes, sizes, ages and colours. The walls had been painted a deep red, and the lights that gave off a dim glow, were held onto metal rafters that dropped down from the ceiling.

It was a completely alien experience for Georgiana. Jack took a quick look at her face to gauge her reaction, without her noticing. She turned to him and he quickly averted his gaze to the other direction.

"Jack? Are they actually playing Mr. Scruff?" She was so happy. The myriad of parties, functions and benefits that she was forced to attend didn't play music she really liked. The music they played, even though it could be mainstream pop or classical, was always inevitably banal.

"You know, not many people surprise me. But you..." he shook his head, and caught her hand. "Come on." He led her through the throng of people to a booth at the side of the bar. He placed her on the seat and asked if she wanted a drink. She caught his arm and he looked at her in confusion. "What if they ID you?" she whispered. He snorted in response.

"That's what you're scared about? Don't worry about ol' _sugarballs,_ Princess." He cracked his neck, and Georgiana winced a little. "What do you want to drink?"

Her mind went blank. "Gin and tonic?"

"Your wish is my command!" he cried and then strutted off to the bar.

Georgiana looked around, taking in the place. She could see people that were clearly underage, and wondered why they hadn't been refused entry. _Maybe they just don't care in this part of town_? _They'll take the money, no questions asked. _

She looked over at Jack at the bar, and saw that a very pretty blonde girl appeared to his left. She was around their age, and was wearing a pair of skin tight jeans and a dark red and black halter top. She touched his arm and he turned his face slightly to look at her. Georgiana could see from his expression that he didn't particularly like the girl; in fact his face was pretty devoid of any emotion. The girl placed her hand on her necklace and started to play with it. She was clearly flirting very heavily with him, and Georgiana continued to watch them from under her eyelashes.

Jack was steadily getting more and more irritated with the girl. Georgiana couldn't believe her eyes, when he took hold of her shoulders, turned her sharply around and gave her a little push away from him. He picked up the drinks that had just been made, and yelled behind him "see ya!" and strode back over to the booth where Georgiana sat.

He sat opposite her, and passed her drink over. She looked at him a like a stunned rabbit. "What. Was. That?"

Jack stopped and said sourly "Just one of my many admirers." Georgiana looked over to where the girl was still standing, who was watching them like a hawk. If looks could kill, then Georgiana would have been six feet under. "Ok..." she said slowly as she turned back to face Jack. He had produced a pack of cards while she had been turned away.

"Do you want to play a game?" he asked her.

"Which one?"

"How about...poker!" he looked at her and patted her hand patronisingly. "Do princesses know how to play poker?"

"Princesses know a lot more than you think." Georgiana said with a sickly sweet smile.

He raised an eyebrow and shuffled the deck.

"Are jokers wild in this game?" She asked him.

He replied very quietly: "They most certainly are." He looked up at her and gave her a shrewd look. "Shall we make the game...a little more _interesting?"_

"I'm not stripping."

A filthy laugh emitted from his lips "Well, if we can take your mind from out of the gutter...if you don't mind? I meant that we could play, for...information."

Georgiana was wary, "Information about what?"

"About...ourselves."

_Well, at least I can find out a little more about him, maybe enough to help._

"Sure. Whoever wins a hand, gets to ask the loser a question...about anything. And the loser has to answer _honestly."_

Jack pretended to look affronted, putting his hand to his chest and was about to protest his innocence, when he dropped the whole act suddenly. "Yeah OK." He replied. He looked so stupid, Georgiana giggled.

"You are so...weird!"

He leant over the table so his face was about an inch away from hers "You have no idea." And quickly gave her a quick peck on her lips. Georgiana blushed and took a swig of her drink to try and hide her cheeks.

He winked at her and started to deal the cards.

Jack won the first game, and the second, and the third. He had asked her about the most stupid things – what colour was her underwear? Did she like pie? The last question was unusual though. "Who is your least favourite person in the whole wide world?"

Without skipping a heartbeat, she answered "My father." He stopped shuffling the cards for a second, and frowned. He asked without looking at her: "Why?"

"If you want to find out, you'll have to win another game." She answered slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

She felt him looking at her, but she couldn't match his gaze. "I think I'll get another drink, do you want one too?" She started to rise, but he put out his hand to stop her. "I'll get them" he said. He wanted her to look at him, but she just wouldn't. Jack left her to go the bar, and she slumped back into her seat.

Suddenly, Georgiana felt somebody sit beside her. She looked up slap bang into a pair of blue eyes – it was the blonde girl from earlier.

"Who the... _fuck _do you think you are?" The blonde girl spat the words out.

"I'm sorry?" Georgiana was honestly confused.

"People like you make me want to puke" The blonde girl was coming towards Georgiana, making her slide up the seat until her back hit the wall. "People like _you_ think they're so much better than the rest of us. Well, the _fuck _you are."

"Look, I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry if something's upset you?" _Polite to the bitter end Georgiana..._

The blonde girl took hold of Georgiana's arm savagely: "I know who you are _Georgiana Quinn." _Georgiana fixated on the girl's crazy eyes. She would have been very lovely to look at, but her face was too full of unbridled hatred...and sadness. "I know all about you."

"Who, who are you?" Georgiana whispered.

"Harleeeeyyy." The girl sharply turned to look over her shoulder, and saw Jack had produced a switchblade. Nobody around them batted an eyelid.

Harley let go of Georgiana quickly, and stood up in front of Jack. In a flash, Jack caught her by the throat and brought her very close to his face, "You need to stop...being you." His face took on a whole different expression that Georgiana had never seen on him before. He was absolutely terrifying – she could tell he was mad, but his anger had a darkened edge to it. She almost sensed the animal inside him trying to get out.

"Jack...I...I..._need _you."

Jack said in the sweetest voice "You need...to put a smile on that face." He squeezed her throat, and Harley started to struggle and gasp.

Georgiana got up and rushed forward. She gently touched his forearm, he immediately flinched. He turned and looked at Georgiana as though he had just realised she was there too.

"Jack, please let her go." Georgiana looked into his eyes desperately. His expression transformed slowly from demonic to a dull frown. Time was at a stand still as they looked into each other's eyes. He pushed Harley back towards the wall. She collided with it and simply looked back at him with complete devotion.

Jack grabbed Georgiana's hand and pulled her through the crowd of people. "Where are we going?" She yelled.

"For a walk", was his taciturn response. They made their way out of the bar and crossed the street. He stopped and twirled to face her. "Let me see your arm."

Georgiana showed him her arm that Harley had grabbed so roughly. He touched the red mark softly, "Do you think I'll survive?" she asked him.

He just stroked it in response. "Jack, please tell me. What the hell just happened?"

Jack sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Harley is a girl, who kinda has a 'thing' for me."

"I think that's the understatement of the century." Jack snorted, "She was saying how she knew aaaall about me." Georgiana said sarcastically.

Jack looked down at her, "She would do. She works for Falcone too."

Georgiana was shocked. "What does she do for him?" Jack paused, and looked to the ground. "She's an _all-rounder. _She's a thief, a liar, a messenger...a killer."

Her mouth almost hit the floor. "That girl in there?" she pointed back to the bar. "The one that would look like a normal high school student, if she hadn't have been foaming at the mouth?"

"The very same."

"Are you a killer?"

A steel glaze came over his eyes when she asked that. "You gotta do...what you gotta do."

Before she could stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth, she whispered: "What is it like?"

Jack's pupils dilated as he brought himself closer to her. He slid his hand around her waist slowly and brought his lips tantalisingly close to hers. He was so close she could feel his heart beating.

"It's like...all of the knowledge you could ever dream of." His forehead touched hers. "You see what's in a person's soul in those final moments." He kissed her then with a ferocity that took her breath away.

As people came out of the bar, they spotted the couple across the street, and whistled at them. It made no difference to Jack and Georgiana. It was though a charge of electricity was connecting them. They were so caught up in the moment that they had no idea that that they were being observed very quietly, by Freddie Lawrence.

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I'm so sorry that my kissing scene was a bit crappy! I always find that kind of thing so tough to write!

Also, I had to put a mention in for Mr. Scruff as he's so funky

Hope you liked the chapter! xx


	8. Chapter 8

Hi, it's me again ...just to let you know, this first part of the story is written from Freddie's viewpoint.

Disclaimer: DC/Chris Nolan haven't created any of my characters, and vice versa! :P

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**Chapter 8**

Freddie had initially thought it was a great idea. His college buddy, Robert Van Bramer, had suggested to their group of friends that they should go and to see how the 'great unwashed' partied in their natural habitat. "Think of it like a trip to the zoo." Robert had sniggered.

They had had a great time, crawling from bar to bar, club to club, encouraging the girls to dance and talk to them, and trying to see if they could take it further with any of them. That's what those kinds of girls were there for, the guys had thought. _Practice runs._

When their group had left the last bar, they were pretty drunk. Staggering along and laughing loudly – they had turned the corner onto a street, where they saw an old building with a green light on the front of it. Freddie saw it, and in his drunken state thought the glow was almost magical. He closed his eyes to block out the light. And when he opened them again, he was greeted with the sight of a couple making out across the street.

At first he hadn't thought anything of it. But then as he took in the girl's beautiful red hair that cascaded down to her waist, her slender yet curvy frame and that milky white skin that always drove him nuts, the realisation dawned on him.

He came to a standstill. His friends stopped a little in front of him and looked at him quizzically. "Come on Lawrence, you can't have had enough already?" One of the guys, a friend that Freddie had known since prep school, called out to him.

"Of course not" Freddie replied in a distant way. "I just think I dropped my wallet on the way out, I'm going to go back and check. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch you up." They wandered off down the street and Freddie retreated behind the corner they had just come from.

His blood was boiling. The guy Georgiana was with held her close to him, and kissed her passionately. Freddie wanted to go over there and slice the guy's pretty face to shreds, but he forcibly held himself back. Instead, he watched them bitterly while a blinding white rage bubbled up within him. Freddie had at first been so surprised that Georgiana had rejected his advances. There were plenty of girls in their social circle that would have given their right arm to be asked out by Freddie. He was rich, good-looking, had great prospects in the Gotham political arena (with a little help from his father, of course). He couldn't fathom_ why _Georgiana didn't like him.

He was definitely going to have to up his game if he was going to get Georgiana to like him.

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A little time had passed since that eventful night in the Narrows, and Georgiana found Jack often climbed up to her window, whether her father was home or not. This Saturday afternoon though, Georgiana was not at home alone. Her father was currently holed up in his study, plotting some scheme or another. She had caught a few heated words as she had passed by his study door. Her father was telling someone on the other end that, _'the plan is foolproof. You have your people appear and do what they do best, and it will send the right...message'_. Georgiana raced away as quietly as she could when she heard the phone slam down.

She was now in the comfortable living room downstairs. Laying in a reclining pose on the plush sofa, and holding her head up slightly with her right hand, she played with the necklace Jack had given to her on her birthday. When he had originally presented it to her, he had told her to close her eyes. She felt him move her hair slightly from behind and then gently place something around her neck. When she was allowed to look, she had raced to the mirror and saw he had given her a beautifully delicate silver heart pendant that had little purple crystals dotted all over its surface. Georgiana was so gobsmacked, she just stared at the necklace and caressed it with her fingertips.

Jack coughed, and she twisted round. He looked so...hopeful. "Jack, you really shouldn't have. It's so beautiful. Thank you."

He almost blushed, but his face returned to its normal mischievous state, "It's amazing what Walmart sells these days, huh." Georgiana grinned at him, "Isn't it just..."

She smiled to herself as she thought about Jack, but was brought of her reverie by the sound of her father calling her name. Her throat constricted as she heard his deep voice. She hurriedly hid the necklace by covering it up with her top, and scrambled off the sofa and into the hallway, where she saw her father working his way towards her.

"Yes daddy?"

"Georgiana, you have a visitor." Her father had a gleam in his eyes, which immediately put her on edge.

He led her to an elegant drawing room that they used when they had a small number of guests. Georgiana first saw a pair of legs that were protruding from the upholstered wing backed chair. When they had made their presence aware, a head popped from around the side of the chair.

It was Freddie Lawrence.

Georgiana had to physically control her face from forming a sneer. "What brings you here Freddie?" Georgiana said pleasantly, through gritted teeth.

Freddie laughed as though they were old friends and kissed her on the cheek; she tried to keep the flinching to a minimum as her father was still present in the room.

"Well Georgie, I was hoping you would accompany me to the Arkham Benefit this Monday?"

Georgiana paused. She felt incredibly trapped as both Freddie and her father waited for her answer. They were the wolves, and she the lamb.

"Thank you for the offer Freddie, but I believe I will be attending with my father?" She looked at Hugo for an answer, but he simply held his hands up as though he had just been caught doing something he shouldn't.

"I'm so sorry Georgie, but something has come up and I won't be able to attend the benefit." His handsome face formed a disappointed frown. "I know how much you have been looking forward to the benefit and I would never want to deprive you of having fun." _You can barely stand the sight of me you bastard, let alone know what I look forward to, _Georgiana thought bitterly.

"So what do you say Georgie? Pick you up at 8?" Freddie flashed a dazzling smile at her.

"Yes, that would be lovely." Georgiana replied stiffly, "Thank you."

"Great! I'll see you on Monday then!" He went to touch her arm, but she moved swiftly out of his reach. "See you on Monday Freddie." She felt like a robot, as she walked out of the room to the sounds of her father congratulating Freddie about some prestigious accolade he had received in his first semester at Princeton.

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That same night, as Georgiana lay on her bed reading, Jack paid her a visit. She tended to leave the window open so he could get in and out easily without him having to ask for entry. She made a 'shush' action with her finger and mouth, and pointed to the direction of her father's office. Jack rolled his eyes and tiptoed comically to the edge of the bed. He whispered dramatically "Hello. What's shakin'?" and Georgiana looked up at him sadly and opened her mouth to speak, before she heard a loud knock at her door. They both froze like statues.

"Georgiana, may I have a word with you please?" It was her father.

She mouthed the word 'closet' to Jack, and then replied to her father "Of course daddy, just a moment, I'm getting changed into my pyjamas." Jack had dived into her closet as she was speaking to her father and positioned himself so he could get a good view through the wooden slats of the closet doors.

"Come in daddy." Georgiana was sat very demurely at her dressing table, with her hand on her hair brush.

Hugo Quinn entered her room and walked over to her dressing table. "Tell me Georgiana, do you enjoy making me look like a fool?" he asked with a deathly calm.

Georgiana's grip on her hairbrush tightened. "No daddy."

"Do you enjoy throwing all that I have ever done for you, back into my face?" He was gently stroking her hair, prolonging her unease. Georgiana looked up at him with watery eyes. "No daddy." She whispered.

He grabbed a huge chunk of hair and lifted her up from her seat. Georgiana saw little white stars as the pain rippled from her roots down the side of her head.

"Then why do you act like you don't like Freddie Lawrence, hmm?" Her father's voice was still eerily calm, but his actions were not. His grip on her hair tightened. "Freddie's father is a very influential man; he's the senator for Gotham State, as you well know. Now the next time you see Freddie, I want you to _smile _at him. I want you to _laugh _at all his little jokes." Hugo brought his face closer to his daughter's face, "I want you to just...absolutely..._adore _him." Georgiana's small hands were holding onto her father's large hand that was currently ripping out her hair. She gasped as he shook her to get an answer from her. "Yes daddy." She cried at him.

He released his hold, and Georgiana stumbled back slightly. "Good girl" he said and kissed her forehead lightly. "Now, we won't need another little talk _will we?" _he said darkly.

Georgiana looked up at her father, trying to keep her tears at bay. She was so upset that she couldn't speak, so she just shook her head.

Her father smiled his radiant smile and chuckled. He sauntered out of the room, leaving Georgiana staring into the space that he had just occupied.

Jack emerged slowly from the closet, with a face like thunder. "I can see why you hate him." He said deeply. Georgiana turned to look at him, with her face flushed and her hair mussed up from her father's assault. "I wish he were dead." She spoke slowly, as though savouring the taste of the words.

Jack simply nodded slowly.

Georgiana turned to face her reflection in the mirror. "Don't you?" she asked her mirror self quietly.

"I hated my father too." She looked up at his reflection in the mirror. He was standing behind her.

"Why?"

Jack tried to smooth down her hair gently, "because he was a _fiend."_

"What did he do?" Georgiana was genuinely intrigued. She was developing strong feelings for Jack, but found him to be very secretive about his life prior to being part of Falcone's gang.

"Well, he was always a heavy drinker. A real _mean _drunk. He used to take complete and utter pleasure in making me and my mother suffer." Jack sounded like he was telling a bed time story to a small child. "Anyway, one night he goes off crazier than usual, and so my mother grabs the kitchen knife to defend herself. My father manages to take the knife off of her and then starts accusing her of never being happy." Jack began to look like he was far away. "He said to her _'Why are you always so serious? Let's put a smile on that face.'_ And he took the knife and carved a wide smile from here" jack traced the path on his face, "to here."

Georgiana was transfixed. "What happened next?"

"Do you know what Princess?" the faraway look in his eyes transformed into something she didn't recognise at all. "Sometimes, I don't _remember_ what happened next."

He dropped to his knees in front of her, and buried his face into her stomach. Georgiana was still staring vacantly, and was oddly reminded of an old nursery rhyme she had heard when she was a child. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...". She whispered while stroking his head gently.

_Your own reality. For yourself. Not for others._ It made perfect sense to Georgiana now. She was going to take her life back.


	9. Chapter 9

Hellooooooo! I've put a picture up on my twitpic profile of Georgiana's dress for the benefit –the link is on my profile page if you want to take a peek.

**I'm going to rate this chapter as 'M' as there will be a little bit of a sexual 'situation' that occurs. I think it will be quite tame compared to some other 'M' rated fics, but I just thought I should give you a heads up **

Hope you enjoy! Please comment if you'd like to

Disclaimer: I own nothing Batman-shaped or DC related. Just original characters only.

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**Chapter 9**

"Oh Georgie, I'm so sorry!" Charlotte spun round to face Georgiana. They had decided to take a walk through the grounds, and down to Georgiana's design rather than fate, they had ended up in the Water Garden. The summer sun was beating down, so they had placed themselves on the edge of a Baroque style fountain. Georgiana's fingertips gently graced the water, and the dappled light shimmered up her arm.

"Please, Charlotte." She shook her head slowly, watching the water ripple. "There's nothing for you to apologise for." Georgiana looked up into the stone carved eyes of Trident as he stood masterfully in the centre of the fountain.

"I've completely failed you! I didn't keep you safe!" Charlotte cried at her friend. "You're my real family, you know that don't you?" She said softly.

Georgiana faced Charlotte, "And you're the sister I wished I had." Charlotte's smile lit up her face and it warmed Georgiana's heart. She flicked some water at Charlotte, and her friend squealed.

"Charlotte, are you going to be at the benefit too? "

"Yes, but I've had specific _orders _not to 'bother' you and Freddie the whole evening. But you know what I'm like..." Charlotte smiled wickedly "everything goes in one ear...and then out of the other."

Georgiana raised her eyebrows, "Oh really?"

"Yup...it's a gift!"

They both laughed, and Charlotte almost fell into the fountain. Georgiana snorted in a very un-ladylike manner and tried to steady her friend. Once Charlotte had stopped giggling, Georgiana looked up shyly and tried to speak, but couldn't quite find the words. Charlotte noticed this and asked her what was wrong.

"Well, there are two things really." Georgiana was nervous, she couldn't be sure if what she was going to say would completely shock Charlotte. "The first thing is...I'm not going to be pushed around anymore. My father, and Freddie, can..." Georgiana paused before she yelled: "fuck off!" To be truthful, Georgiana wasn't fond of cussing, but sometimes you did need to use words with a stronger..._flavour. _Charlotte whooped and cheered when she heard this.

"What are you going to do?" Charlotte leant in closer.

"With Freddie, I'm going to set him straight at the benefit. My father..." Georgiana lost a little confidence in her voice, "I've still got to figure that one out."

"Whatever you do, you can always count on me to help you out. Now, what's the second thing?"

Georgiana felt herself get a little warmer, and not because of the sun's rays, "I've kind of met someone..." before she could finish, Charlotte started screaming and flailing her arms.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! THAT'S AMAZING OH MY GOD! OH! MY! GOOOOOD!"

Hoping her eardrums weren't damaged, Georgiana patted her ears delicately. _Wow..._

"Who is he?"

"Um, he's not anyone you would know. It's really early though so don't get too excited, OK."

Charlotte was furiously nodding and shaking her head as Georgiana spoke. "Is he the one who gave you your necklace?" she pointed to the heart shaped pendant.

"Nothing gets past you huh?" Georgiana touched her necklace, "Yes, he gave it to me for my birthday."

"Am I allowed to..._express _my joy?"

Georgiana sighed, and nodded her consent. Charlotte released the biggest, _girliest, _squeal that had ever been heard.

"Are you done?"

"Yes, maybe? That's so amazing! Have you kissed him?" Georgiana nodded and Charlotte's eyes bugged out of her head.

"Was it good?" Georgiana nodded slowly with a filthy smile.

"Oh my God! Have you done..._anything else..._with him?" Charlotte raised her eyebrow in a dashing way.

"Noooooo!" Georgiana put out her hands like she was trying to stop a train coming straight towards her. _Even though I do think about it. All. The. Time, _she thought distantly.

"I bet you want to though! Ha! Wow, can I meet him? Is he hot? Is he in college?"

"Yes I'd love for you to meet him, but we have to do it secretly, OK? We'll arrange something."

Charlotte clapped her hands and gave Georgiana the dopiest smile. Georgiana rolled her eyes, but smiled back at her. "Come on Charlotte; let's go see if we can find a hideous dress for me to wear for tomorrow night." Georgiana stood up from the edge of the fountain.

"Something in a vomit green for the lady?" Charlotte said in a deep 'manly' voice.

"Oooh yes! And something with oodles and oodles of bows!" Georgiana replied in a high pitched, tremulous voice.

The girls hurried away giggling back to the house, devising the world's ugliest dress for Georgiana to wear at the benefit.

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Freddie had arrived and was waiting for Georgiana to come down from her room. He was suited up in black tie, and was patiently hovering at the bottom of the stairs with Hugo Quinn.

"She won't be long Freddie." Hugo smiled knowingly, "You _know_ young ladies."

"Ha, yes they seem to take..." Freddie trailed off as he caught a glimpse of Georgiana emerging down the stairs.

She was dressed in a vintage Dior dress, which was made from light creamy bronze tulle for the skirt, with a silk bandeau bodice. Covering the entire bodice were pearl coloured flowers that were stitched delicately and gave the appearance of gently floating down her dress. Georgiana didn't look beautiful, she looked other-worldly.

Her hair was gently waved and tumbled over shoulders. She wore tiny pearl earrings, and her heart pendant that Jack gave her. Freddie didn't notice her odd choice of necklace; he was too busy staring at her like a small puppy. Hugo noticed and smiled slyly to himself.

Georgiana walked slowly down the stairs and stopped in front of them.

"Hello Freddie. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Freddie blinked, and then regained his composure, "You look absolutely stunning Georgie." He said warmly, and kissed her on the cheek. She shivered inside. "Thank you, you look nice too."

Her father shooed them to the black limo that was waiting outside, "Come on you two! You can whisper sweet nothings on your way to Arkham. You don't want to be late." They were outside and the driver opened the door for Georgiana. She quietly thanked him and stepped in the car as her father and Freddie exchanged firm handshakes. "Bring her home safe now Freddie!"

_Yeah, like you care, _Georgiana thought to herself.

Freddie climbed into the limo and looked over at Georgiana. "This is going to be a great night, I just know it."

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Georgiana felt Freddie's hand on the small of back as he ushered her through the main hall at Arkham towards the tower of champagne glasses.

"Isn't it rather dangerous to have a benefit in an asylum for the criminally insane?" She asked Freddie as he picked up two glasses of champagne, and handed one to her.

"Not if you make the necessary arrangements to make it _safe_." A bored voice behind Georgiana piped up. She turned round and came face to face with a young man. Freddie looked peeved and drily stated: "And you are...?"

"Jonathan Crane. I'm currently interning here at Arkham. I'm a psychology major at Gotham U." His eyes flickered over to Georgiana. "And you are?"

"Georgiana Quinn; and this is Freddie Lawrence." She said. _His eyes are like blue fire, s_he reflected to herself. She was definitely a little unnerved by this, frankly, _beautiful _man. His face was almost feminine with its high cheekbones, and his black hair looked as soft as a raven's feathers. But his beauty was a cold one, and it sent shivers of dread up and down her spine as he looked at Georgiana with an icy, calculating stare.

"Ah, Quinn... your father is Hugo, I presume?" Georgiana nodded. "Miss Quinn, I'm sure my opinion does not matter much to you but I can assure you that you will be completely safe. The more...'unstable'... patients are locked up good and tight."

"Oh, that's good to know." She gave a shy smile and sipped her champagne. Freddie was bristling and wanted this interloper to find a short cliff, and take a long walk off of it. Freddie spoke: "Well, if you don't mind...we have a few people that we need to catch up with, so..." He looked behind him as if to show that he wanted to move on.

Jonathan smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. The eyes still remained glacial. "Of course, as do I. It was a pleasure meeting you Miss Quinn." His eyes left Georgiana and locked on Freddie, "Freddie." He nodded, and then walked off in the opposite direction.

Georgiana was concerned. She did not like that man at all, in fact she pitied any patient that would have him treating them. He was so..._cold._

"Thank God we got rid of the quack." Freddie nudged her in the side gently. Georgiana turned to look at him, "Freddie I need to talk to you."

"This sounds very serious Georgie; shall we find somewhere a little more _private?" _He was leaning towards her. Anyone who couldn't hear the conversation would have thought that they were lovers.

_He can't do anything here, there are too many people..._ "OK, just for a little chat...understand?"

"Of course, Georgie." He led them out of the main hall and on the opposite side were a few doctors' offices. Freddie tried two of the doors, but they were locked, but the third one wasn't. He opened the door for Georgiana and she walked in first.

She stood in front of the large desk as Freddie closed the door gently. "Freddie...you need to know something."

He stood very close to her and she moved back, and her rear touched the edge of the desk.

"What do I need to know Georgie?" He reached up and tried to touch her face, but she stopped him.

"Freddie, I don't like you like that. Nothing can or will ever happen between us. Nothing."

Freddie's face hardened, and Georgiana became nervous. "I don't mean to be cruel but I don't want to give you any false hope."

Freddie exhaled a brunt laugh, and stuck his tongue in his cheek. "Is it because you've been _whoring_ it up on the sly?" He sneered and looked her up and down. Georgiana was taken aback, "Excuse me?"

"I _saw _you, Georgie. With your low-rent, scuzzy little boyfriend. In the _narrows." _Georgiana's chest tightened, "Were you...spying on me?"

Freddie scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself. I was out on the town with my friends and we decided to see if we could go find something _fast_ and _cheap_." The implication to his meaning wasn't lost on Georgiana. She narrowed her eyes, "You are _repulsive." _

He was livid. Freddie grabbed her shoulders and brutally pinned her down to the desk. She started to yell but Freddie clasped her hand over her mouth. "You little bitch. I bet you gave it to him, didn't you?" Georgiana struggled but couldn't move as he had her in a tight hold, his legs were up against hers and restraining them.

"The funny thing is, I wouldn't have had to look too far for something cheap, huh Georgie?" He spotted some sello tape on the desk. Grabbing it quickly, Georgiana tried to strike him as he did, but he gave her an almighty thwack across her cheek. She was completely dazed as he wrapped the sello tape around and around her dainty wrists. He wasn't thinking clearly, he was just so...frustrated with her. He wanted her so much, but she wasn't responding the way she _should _be. Well, he was going to show her who was boss. He was going to _make _her his.

He swiftly undid his bow tie and shoved it in her mouth and she gagged. Slowly she started to come round, and panicked as she felt him reach under her skirt. The squirming and wriggling was pissing him off, so Freddie slapped her face again, and she whimpered. He raised his hand, "Do you want me to hit you again? " He whispered dangerously. She just looked up at him with teary eyes and mumbled for him to stop. He didn't care.

His hand felt the soft skin of her thigh, and made his way up to her intimate parts. He cupped her on the outside of her panties and started to rub where her clitoris was. Georgiana's skin crawled and she tried to kick her legs, but it was no use. Her tears were coming thick and fast but Freddie was taking his time and savouring the moment. He slowly went inside her panties and started to touch her. She jolted when she felt the unwelcome advance, but he ignored it and kept on going. Georgiana could tell from his eyes, that he was too taken with his desire now to care about how he was hurting her.

His hand moved lower to her entrance and he softly circled it with his middle finger. Georgiana was completely bone dry down there, so he retracted his finger and sucked it. He could taste her faint feminine aroma and it turned him on even more. He put his finger back to where it was and slowly entered her. Georgiana tensed up immediately and shook her head. He began to move his finger in and out of her with a rapid motion. His other hand was currently gripping her waist, but he moved it to trace the contour of her breasts that were held in by her bodice. She put her bound hands up against his chest, but he slapped them down. He removed his finger from within her, and used both of his hands to peel down the top of the bodice. Georgiana had worn a nude coloured strapless bra underneath her dress. He just pulled down that too, and released her breasts for him to see. He was already very hard, but touching her breasts had tipped him over the edge. He fondled them and rubbed the pretty pink rosebud nipples between his thumb and forefinger. He was breathing very heavily, and said to no one in particular, "Why would you waste_ this_ on some 'nobody' from the Narrows?" Georgiana just wanted to crawl into herself but she found another surge of bravery as she knocked his chin with her hands. "For fuck's sake Georgie!" He hissed. He grabbed her by the waist and flipped her on her stomach. She kicked him as hard she could, and magically got him in the thigh. He groaned, and then smacked her head on the desk. Her vision became fuzzy, but she could feel him lift her skirt up and rip her panties down to her ankles.

Georgiana was gasping for breath, when she heard the first shot. Freddie stopped and looked towards the door. He walked away from Georgie, and she took the opportunity to scramble up and hide under the desk.

She heard him open the door and walk out. There was another gunshot and then she heard the screaming. Georgiana looked up at the bookcase and saw a little statuette that held a sharp-ish looking spear. She got up and knocked it to the floor, and started to rub her sellotaped hands on the spear. In no time, the sello tape broke, and she tore the rest of it off. She hastily rearranged herself, and kept trying not to burst into tears even though she felt like dying.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Georgiana turned and saw a thick set man, wearing a clown mask who was carrying a sawn off shotgun. She screamed and threw the statuette at him but he ducked out of the way. He lunged at her and threw her over his shoulder. He walked out and she heard him say in a thick baritone voice to someone in front of him: "Found one."

Georgiana was so traumatised, she felt herself fade to black as the clown carried her back to the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello! Hope you enjoy chapter 10!

Disclaimer: I own nothing Batman-shaped or DC related. Just original characters only.

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**Chapter 10**

Her eyes fluttered open, and her head felt like cotton wool. She could hear people shouting in harsh voices, but couldn't quite make out whole sentences. A cool hand placed itself on her forehead, and Georgiana groaned, but quickly heard herself being shushed.

"Miss Quinn, can you hear me?" A young, clipped male voice whispered in her ear. Georgiana was lying on the floor in a semi foetal position, but she slowly focussed on the face that hovered above her. Jonathan Crane's eyebrows were knitted together slightly, but his face still seemed fairly expressionless.

"Yes, I can hear you. Just about." She softly whispered back.

"You fainted when you were being carried in. You have a few nasty marks on your face." Georgiana gingerly raised her hand and touched her cheek, and winced. Her mind went back to what had just happened, and she felt like the contents of her stomach would surely make an evacuation.

Crane's long fingers felt like spiders webs as they started to appraise her face. "They will probably be quite nasty. Can you sit up at all?" Jonathan helped her to sit up, and she breathed out slowly, as her back felt the cool wall behind her. Her head fell back and her eyes surveyed the chaos that lay in front of her. They were situated to the left of the main entrance and she could see that there were at least twelve men, who were all wearing different clown masks, and were each uniquely grotesque. The clowns were striding in and around all of the benefit guests, teasing and tormenting them as they went along. People in their elegant evening attire had been forced to sit on the ground trembling and crying. Georgiana saw across the way from her, Lucius Fox, who was looking at her with concern in his eyes. She gave him a small smile and closed her eyes.

Georgiana opened her eyes, and tried searching for Charlotte, but couldn't see her anywhere. She did see Freddie though, who was sitting by the right of the entrance staring hard at Georgiana. He looked like he had received the butt of someone's gun to his face, and Georgiana couldn't help but smile at the thought. Moving her head slightly to the left, she looked at Jonathan's profile and whispered: "What's happening?"

Without turning to look at her, he whispered back: "They are looking for Jeremiah Arkham."

Georgiana was nonplussed, "Why would a bunch of _clowns _want to find Jeremiah Arkham?"

"Because these _clowns_ probably belong to Falcone." Crane could sense Georgiana's puzzlement, so he turned his head and explained, "Currently residing here is a man who is, for better want of a word, a psychopath. He has done some extremely disturbing things, and has committed some very depraved crimes. This man _was _working for Falcone until three months ago, when he was sent here for evaluation. I'm hazarding a guess, but I think Falcone wants this _employee _released back into his care."

Georgiana drew in her breath. The phone call her father had taken, about sending the right message to someone. Her bile started to rise in her throat, and her face set to stone. Her father knew she would have been in danger, but had sent her off without as much as a backward glance. In that moment, she truly _hated _Hugo Quinn. She could no longer think of him as her father.

One of the goons came closer to Georgiana and Crane. _There's something not quite right about this one_, Georgiana thought to herself. On closer inspection, this goon was female. Even though she was thin, she was wearing baggy black combats and a loose fitting hooded sweatshirt which had a red and black diamond pattern. The female clown came closer to them and stopped in front of Georgiana. Staring down, she tilted her head to the side and pointed her gun in the middle of Georgiana's eyes.

People were staring in abject terror and started to gasp. Georgiana looked into the eyes of her would-be killer, and recognised the sadness and envy that were contained within the blue orbs. They locked eyes, and the female clown, who Georgiana recognised as Harley, spoke in a low voice, "It would be so easy to take you out, right here, right now."

"Bozo!" Harley spun around, and Georgiana gave her an almighty kick, right in her ass. Harley fell forwards, dropping her gun. She threw a vicious look back at Georgiana, who said in a voice she had never heard herself use: "I would like to see you try." The words came out almost gutturally, and Georgiana saw a flash of panic in Harley's eyes.

The clown that had called Harley 'Bozo', came and tried to pick her up, but she violently threw his hands away. She stalked off without looking back at Georgiana, and the clown trotted after her awkwardly.

Georgiana sighed in relief, and could feel Crane raise his eyebrows at her. She glanced at him, and he said crisply "How interesting. She took an instant dislike to you, did she?" Although, she could tell that he knew that there was much more behind that little _interaction _then he was letting on. "I just have one of those faces," Georgiana deadpanned, and the corners of Jonathan's lips curled very slightly.

A new clown entered the hall, with a couple of other clowns behind him. Georgiana could see Harley constantly look at one of the clowns that had just come in. _That must be Jack, _Georgiana mused. She wanted to run to him and feel his protective arms around her. Somehow, he seemed to sense her presence and gazed at her. She could see his free hand tighten into a fist as he looked at her. _I must look like I've been hit by a bus. _

The new clown fired a shot into the air and people screamed. They were quickly hushed when the new clown started to speak: "We've just had a little _chat _with good 'ol Jerry Arkham," He squawked at the room, "so we'll be releasing our friend and leaving. But we just have to complete...some _paperwork _first." Georgiana saw Jack walk towards a table beside her and set a backpack down on it. He tried to look at her without anyone noticing but she could see the fury and confusion in his eyes. He started to remove some explosives from the backpack and people started to panic. The spokes-clown started to point his gun at people "Now, now. Let's keep it civil now." And with that he let out a creepy laugh.

Jack 'accidently' dropped something next to Georgiana, and crouched down quickly. He spoke barely above a whisper: "Who did that to you? Was it one of the clowns?" Georgiana, who could not look at him for fear of being noticed by Crane, shook her head slightly. "You don't know him." She hissed.

"I know everyone. Tell me now."

Georgiana paused; she knew what he was going to do when she gave him the name. "Freddie...Lawrence." It was done. Jack straightened up and picked up the explosives.

"Joker! Come on, we ain't got all night!" Jack turned at that. "Coming, Chuckles." He growled back. Jack made his way over to Chuckles, but walked straight past him towards Freddie. "I've got an idea fellas, why don't we bring along some...collateral?" He pounded the butt of his sawn off shot gun into Freddie's face, and blood spat out from his nose and mouth. Jack grabbed his leg and dragged Freddie's unconscious body towards Chuckles and stopped, "Ya know – for bargaining!" He yelled out like an excitable kid. Chuckles merely _chuckled _and followed him out.

Georgiana felt like stone. There was no pity in her heart for Freddie, and her mind was swirling with thoughts of revenge. The shell of her body was intact, but her psyche was starting to turn and twist, she could no longer _ignore _the disgusting nature of her society. This was not the reality that she wanted to inhabit, where the corrupt could act as they pleased and damn the consequences. Even her own father would willingly put his own daughter in danger to make sure his business was done. _People should be made to reap what they sow, _her mind fluttered with the phrase.

Not long after Jack had left, there was a massive boom. The room shook, and Georgiana felt herself fall over onto Crane's side. He took the brunt of her fall and held her. Once the dust had settled, they rose up. "They must have blown the isolation cell's door off." Crane mumbled at her. "That won't be cheap to replace..." Georgiana gave him an odd look.

The remaining clowns had been given a signal of some kind. They ran out to the main entrance of the hall, and threw back into the room several bright blue canisters that emitted a green smoke when they hit the ground. People tried to run, but once they inhaled the gas they slowly fell to the ground like puppets on a string.

Georgiana was about to pass out, when she felt strong hands place something over her face and pick her up in their arms. She looked up slowly to see Jack's clown mask staring straight ahead as he ran out of the room with her.

Once they were out of the hall, he placed her on a bench that was situated on the opposite side on the hallway. "I'm so sorry, but I'm gonna have to leave you here. I just didn't want you inhaling that green stuff...wouldn't have been good for you."

"Thank you...how did you know it wouldn't be good for me?" Georgiana coughed.

"Because... I made the canisters. It's my own special brand of 'laughing gas', it's kind of a...hallucinogen...". Jack put his thumb to the dimple in her cheek. He lifted up his clown mask and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips, "I'll see you tonight." He tenderly spoke, and Georgiana longed for the warmth of his lips again. Jack then ripped his clown mask down and ran, but Georgiana couldn't see where. She was just too exhausted that she couldn't see straight. Georgiana made herself get up from the bench, and made her way to the office where Freddie tried to molest her. Once inside, she picked up the phone, and was surprised to find a dial tone. _Maybe they forgot to cut the phone lines? _Her trembling fingers dialled 911, and once connected, her dry throat produced the words "Police department, please."


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much for your favourites, alerts and reviews! Hope you keep reading and enjoy the story.

**I'm going to rate this chapter as another 'M' because *cough* will occur! I apologise in advance for the crappiness of my romantic writing...sorry sorry sorry!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing Batman-shaped or DC related. Just original characters only.

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**Chapter 11**

The sound of sirens sliced through the evening air like knives. Once again she was sat on the bench that Jack originally placed her on; Georgiana hummed a little song to herself. The notes of 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' slowly drifted from her mouth as she watched the Police crash through Arkham's entrance.

She was still humming when they secured the hallway, and brought the medical team in. Georgiana brought her head up, which now felt like a lead weight as the sheer exhaustion hit her, and glimpsed the guests still in the main hall. They were laughing and cackling so hard, she thought they were going to hack up their lungs. The laughing gas was so potent that it appeared to paralyse them, yet their faces were able to contort into crazy laughing masks. _Jack, you are a man of many talents, _Georgiana wearily thought to herself.

A policeman walked calmly over to her and knelt down beside her. "Ma'am, I'm Detective Murphy. I'm gonna get you seen by the medics in just a moment. Are you OK to talk to me for a minute?"

Georgiana slowly nodded at Detective Murphy. She took in his appearance and saw he looked to be in his mid thirties but had already started to show signs of grey in his chestnut hair. He ran a hand over his face, and then retrieved a note book and pen from his jacket pocket. "Alright, can I take your name and age ma'am?"

"Georgiana Quinn. Seventeen." She replied quietly.

He jotted it down. "Were you here on your own?"

"No, I came with Frederick Lawrence." Murphy looked sharply up at her.

"The senator's son?" Georgiana nodded at him in response.

He was scribbling once more in his notepad. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well I passed out for a little bit, but I remember that there were people dressed as clowns."

"Clowns?" Murphy gave her a peculiar look.

"The people who ambushed the benefit were wearing clown masks." Georgiana sighed and held her cool hand on her forehead. "They had us all in the main hall just over there, and they all had guns."

"Did they steal anything? Money? Jewellery?"

"They stole a patient."

Murphy swore quietly under his breath and shook his head. "How did you get out here ma'am?"

Georgiana moved her hand from her forehead and covered her eyes. The action comforted her as she tried to think of a convincing lie to tell Detective Murphy. She wasn't brave enough to look him in the eyes.

"I'm afraid, I'm not quite sure. One minute I'm inside the hall, the next I'm outside."

"Are you hurt?" Her hand slipped down, over her nose and mouth and stopped at the heart pendant round her neck.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you." Georgiana's eyes flickered to his note pad scribbling and softly said: "You should have been a doctor."

Murphy looked puzzled, "Uh, why do you say that ma'am?"

"Because your handwriting is truly terrible."

The detective looked a little stunned by her statement, but his expression seemed to soften into a smile. "Always knew I was in the wrong line of work." He murmured.

"Detective I would like to go home if that's alright? I just want to leave." She was staring at the hall entrance where she could see guests being wheeled out on stretchers, laughing and hooting hysterically.

Murphy looked sympathetically up at Georgiana. He slowly stood up: "I would rather you just get checked out first before you go home. " he said softly, "Do you have anyone you can call to come get you?"

"My father works very odd hours, but I can get a cab."

"No, no...I'll get someone to drive you home," He searched behind him, and his eyes alighted on a young police officer in full Gotham City PD uniform, "Blake! Can you come over here?"

Blake jogged over to his superior officer. "This is Officer John Blake, give him your address and he'll take you home." Murphy turned to Blake and whispered to him, "Her name's Georgiana Quinn. Get her checked out by the medics first." Murphy left them alone, and Georgiana glanced up into Officer Blake's honest looking face, "Hello Officer Blake." She stated cooly, "Please take me home, I'm perfectly fine." Blake replied cautiously, "I don't mean to be rude ma'am, but you look like you've gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. You should get checked out."

Georgiana rose up regally and brushed past the young officer. He frowned at her "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to call a cab"

"You can't...you..."

Georgiana cut him off abruptly, "Am I under arrest?"

Blake looked abashed, "Well, no ma'am..."

"Then I am within my right to leave, am I not?" _Oh Miss Marlow, your lessons on elocution and being a snotty little bitch sure did come in handy, _Georgiana thought inwardly. She figured she must look like a fallen warrior queen who was trying her upmost to keep her dignity.

Blake put his hands out to stop her: "Jesus, OK, OK! Look I'll take you home. OK?" Georgiana smiled and her narrowed eyes danced with delight.

"Super."

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Once she had been dropped off by Blake, it was around midnight. Georgiana felt like a zombie as she trudged up the staircase, her hand gliding along the smooth alabaster stone hand rail. She took off her pretty shoes when she reached the top and carried them as she crossed the short distance to her room. Her gown trailed behind her and made a slight rustling sound on the wooden floorboards, but when she approached her father's study she gathered up her skirt, so she minimized the noise. He wasn't in there, but Georgiana was always quiet outside his study purely from habit.

Opening the door to her bedroom, it was pitch black. Georgiana could make out a little bedside lamp and turned it on. The light illuminated the room in more ways than one.

Jack was curled up in her large Louis XV armchair, with his boots carelessly thrown in front of him, fast asleep. His dark clothing clashed with the gentle cream fabric of the chair, but Georgiana found the bizarre mix very alluring.

She moved to the full length mirror and finally saw the damage. Her face, neck and chest were covered in deep, angry red and purple marks. She raised her hands in front of her face, and saw where she had been bound had now also turned a light purple. Georgiana was mesmerized by her new look. Memories of Freddie hurting her burst into her mind, and she immediately began to fall backwards as the thoughts swam throughout her soul, only for her to be caught mid air.

"Jack..._Jack..." _She buried her head into his shoulder and wept her heart out. He stroked her hair gently, but soon began to manoeuvre her to the en-suite bathroom. She wasn't completely aware of what was going on, she noticed she was being placed on the counter next to the bathroom sink, and the sound of rushing water filled her ears.

Her legs dangled lifelessly as she lowered her head backwards against the mirrored wall. Jack was looking through her bathroom cabinets and came back with a bottle of some description and cotton wool balls. He applied the lotion to the wool and carefully daubed her face.

"What did you do to him?"

Jack was silent and carried on dabbing her face. She once again saw the internal struggle inside of him: the raging beast that was begging to burst out and revel in his devious deeds.

Georgiana touched his hand gently, "I won't be mad...what did you do to him?"

Jack's eyes now looked black, "I taught him a lesson I'm pretty sure he won't forget."

Georgiana's breathing halted, "Is he dead?"

"How can he _not_ forget something, if he's _dead_? " His grin appeared but he looked anything but happy.

Georgiana looked at Jack and tilted her head, "Good. I hope he doesn't forget."

Jack touched her lips gently, "Oh princess, I can guarantee that he won't. You'll find out soon enough."

A silence fell between them for a moment as the words sank in.

"Tell me what happened." Jack said in a low voice.

Georgiana sighed and closed her eyes, "He took me into a doctor's office. I told him I didn't like him. He got mad, told me he saw us kissing in the Narrows...then he tried to rape me." She recounted the story like she was running off a list of groceries.

Jack, out of the blue, punched the mirror and it shattered into a web of shards on the right side. Georgiana barely even flinched; she was no longer frightened by any act of violence that Jack committed anymore. _Nothing frightens me that much anymore..._In fact she was completely overwhelmed with _wanting_ him.

She leant forward and grabbed his face to kiss him. His bloodied hand reached up and caressed her face. The red liquid made little patterns on her white skin as he kissed her fiercely.

"Please don't leave me tonight." She breathed in between their kiss.

He leaned back a little and looked down at her with a wolfish expression: "I wouldn't dream of it."

Jack lifted Georgiana down from the counter and they walked back into the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Georgiana to him. She ran her fingers through his longish blonde hair and he closed his eyes at the feeling, and he looked like he was in heaven.

Georgiana walked away and stood a little in front of him. She unzipped her dress at the side and delicately stepped out it. Standing in front of him in only her underwear, she slowly removed her bra and panties while he watched her. Georgiana was completely naked and walked towards him.

"Don't you need to get undressed too?" She asked innocently. Jack had a predatory gleam in his eye as he answered: "All in good time princess." He tantalizingly traced a finger down from her neck, all the way down to her belly, which made Georgiana shiver in delight. He pulled her down on the bed, and climbed on top of her fairly skilfully. She felt the course fabric of his clothing scratch against her soft body, which only heightened her senses. Slowly he lowered his face to catch her mouth in another passionate kiss while his hands gently caressed and touched her. Georgiana's arms wrapped around his neck and her legs spread a little wider, she felt his hardness pressing up against her belly. The friction from his jeans against her clitoris was very pleasurable, and it became even more enflamed than it already was.

He broke the kiss and started to feather kisses all down her body, nipping her nipples with his teeth which made her moan and squirm. He reached her pussy, and spread her legs wider. Georgiana looked down at him, and he could see her flushed cheeks and worried eyes. "Trust me" He said softly, "you're gonna love it." With that, he gripped her outer thighs and lowered himself down.

She didn't dare look at what he was doing. Georgiana had never experienced anything like this before, but the mixture of apprehension and sensory delight was an addictive combination to her. Feelings of pleasure built up in her lower areas as Jack kissed and licked; she had obviously masturbated before and given herself orgasms, but it had never, ever felt this _good_. Gripping the bed sheets, Georgiana felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge until she could feel a surge so strong, her lower body actually lifted off the bed. She tried to cover her moans with her hand, but to be honest she was doing a pretty poor job of concealing her utter joy.

As she lay sprawled on the bed in a little orgasmic daze, Jack peeled off his own clothes. She could make out his toned, lithe body as he came back to her. She saw he had a few battle scars already; knife injuries there, the odd bullet wound here, but she loved every single one of them. He lay on top of her now and looked into her eyes. She felt him positioning himself at her entrance, and he said gently: "I'm not gonna lie to you, this is gonna hurt a little. But...it get's nice after a while." She put her hands on his shoulders and simply smiled: "Good" she laughed.

Jack eased himself into her and Georgiana felt her tense walls open to welcome him in. Georgiana couldn't quite believe this was happening, but was so happy it was with Jack and not with _Freddie. _It felt so right. Jack hit her tough little hymen, but with a harsh thrust, she wasn't a virgin anymore.

They carried on making love, bonding together like two lost souls that had finally found each other. But something else had changed between them in their unusual relationship, it was as if they were _connected completely _now. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her.

When they had finished, they lay together entangled in each other's arms in a post-coital euphoria.

"Have you...done _it_ ...a lot?" Georgiana asked him nervously.

Jack looked down at her and grinned, "Well, I have done _it _before... but it wasn't like _this_."

Georgiana nodded to say she understood, and quickly found her eyelids drooping. The last thing she heard was Jack's constant breathing.

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The telephone ring scared Georgiana half to death. She jerked violently and clasped her hand out to reach it.

"Uh, hello?" she answered groggily.

"Georgie! Are you OK? You're like a magnet for trouble!" Charlotte's excitable voice travelled to her ear.

"Yeah..yes...I'm fine. Are you? What time is it?"

Jack stirred by her side "Tell them to fuck off." He grumbled and turned over.

"It's like 11am...who's in the background?

"Just a...loud mouth delivery guy downstairs." She winced as Jack pinched her and mouthed "How very dare you." He lay back down, face deep in the pillow. "Where were you last night? I tried looking for you..."

"My mom said she had a headache and didn't want to go. To be honest I think she took too much diazepam." Georgiana could sense Charlotte rolling her eyes, "I just wanted to make sure you were OK though...Freddie seemed to have received some 'special' attention from those clown guys last night..."

Georgiana sat up and covered herself with the sheets. "What happened to him?"

"They found him...naked...tied up...and in a gay _brothel." _Charlotte sputtered as the hilarious truth came out.

Georgiana's mouth dropped. She looked over at Jack "Are you serious?"

"I am DEADLY serious! The cops delivered him this morning after the brothel was busted..."

Georgiana fist pumped the air, "What a way to start the day, thank you Charlotte!"

"Anytime Georgie. Do you want to meet up later?"

After they had finished the call, Georgie stroked Jack's hair and said in a child-like way: "Aw, puddin' – you sure do the nicest things for me."

Jack looked eagle-eyed at her and smirked.


	12. Chapter 12

I am ridiculously excited about seeing Dark Knight Rises! I hope it's going to be as amazing as Batman Begins and Dark Knight! Has anyone seen it yet?

This chapter has a massive whiff of filler about it, but don't worry - I'm working on biggie for chapter 13!

Disclaimer: I don't own the bat-man or any other DC characters...or do I? (No, I don't...or don't I?)

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**Chapter 12**

Georgiana strolled around the store, touching items of clothing and feeling the fabric fall through her fingers. She had a new lease of life it seemed, she was no longer afraid of what _might _happen. In fact she very much looked forward to developing this emotion of...anarchy. This sensation of upsetting her very _established, _little, mousey life gave her trills of delight as she walked over with quiet confidence to Charlotte, who was currently looking at a pair of designer jeans.

Georgiana couldn't but smirk to herself about what she had done since she met Jack, and Charlotte noticed.

"Well, you're happy considering what you've been through!" Georgiana swiftly wiped the grin off of her face.

_You have no idea... _"Oh, uh, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...I guess" she shrugged. Charlotte simply nodded sweetly.

"How's _Frederick?" _Georgiana bit her bottom lip and peeked up from under her eyelashes at Charlotte.

Charlotte bent her head and suppressed a smile, "He...He's pretty _pissed. _My father almost had a heart attack when he found out...he was like '_the papers, they're going to have a field day with this_' blah blah blaaah. It was a real Kodak moment." Charlotte threw her head back triumphantly and laughed, and then stopped suddenly, "but I keep asking myself, why Freddie? Sure, he's the Senator's son...but what was the point?"

"Maybe there was no point...just a message?"

Charlotte glanced at her friend, "A message? Who would want to send Freddie a message?"

Georgiana stared blankly back, "I don't know. Perhaps it was to shake things up a bit. People are so complacent and never question the status quo...even if it is rotten to the core. Perhaps it was even to show that our civilised citizens are in fact, not what they pretend to be."

Charlotte watched Georgiana carefully, "Georgie, do you know something?"

Georgiana didn't want to lie to her friend, but could she handle it? "Charlotte, look...Freddie did some bad stuff to me last night" she walked up close to her friend, "I had to put a lot of makeup on to cover up the extent of the _bad stuff..." _Charlotte's eyes expanded as she could see the faint marks underneath Georgiana's foundation: "Are you following me?" Georgiana said as she leaned in closer.

Charlotte's happy face hardened, "That prissy son of a bitch." She muttered. "I've got a feeling you can't say something, but just to let you know...I _fucking _approve of whatever the hell it is."

Georgiana smiled impishly "Knew you would."

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Freddie lay in his large bed alone cradling his head. He couldn't believe what was happening to him. It had all gone so horribly wrong for him this summer, and the season was barely over.

His father had been incandescent with rage when the police brought him home, and explained where they had found him. That _clown, _not only had he bust his nose and lip, he and a clown pal had stripped him, then hog tied him and left him in that place barely conscious. One thing that stuck in his mind, was the main clown had whispered almost lovingly into his ear as they were tying him up, "Feeling hard done by, _Freddie_? Oh well, life' s a bitch Freddie-boy, but you gotta learn not to snatch at things that aren't yours..." he leaned in even closer and spoke in a much deeper voice "or I'll make you _learn."_

Freddie punched the pillow as though it were the clown's face laying beside him. He gritted his teeth, he hated being made a fool of in front of everyone, _especially _his father. What had Freddie done to deserve this! Then the realisation crashed over him like a wave of light. _Georgiana._

##################################################################################

When Georgiana came home, she walked into the comfortable living room only to find a man lounging in her usual spot. Georgiana gasped as she recognised who it was.

"Hello _sweetheart_, I'm waiting for your pop's to get home, so I thought I'd make myself a drink while I waited for him." Falcone frowned at her as he took a swig of whisky. "He's got good taste, I'll give him that."

Georgiana was so shocked; she literally stood in the doorway, looking a bit simple.

"You talk, dontcha?" Falcone questioned in his abrupt way.

"Yes, sorry I'm just surprised to see you. My father's not home, he'll be at the office." She was extremely nervous; she was alone with a very dangerous man. Her new found confidence chipped away with every word he spoke.

"Yeah, I called him there, which he was over the moon about." Falcone laughed deeply, he cast an appraising eye over her, "It's Georgiana, right."

"Yes Mr. Falcone, it is."

"You wanna drink? I hate drinking alone." He proffered her a glass. _It'll probably calm me down._

"I'm only seventeen." She said, but she took the glass of whisky anyway. Falcone smirked at this.

"You sittin'down or what?"

Georgiana sat on the sofa as far away as she could from him, which wasn't too hard as it was a massive piece of furniture.

"I can't stay long, my...father probably wouldn't like it."

Falcone huffed "I think your dad should remove that stick from up his ass once in a while." He swirled the contents of his glass, "and perhaps uphold his end of the bargain _once in a while."_

Georgiana felt a little uninhibited by her drink and spoke without thinking: "Hm, good luck with that."

Falcone raised his eyebrows, "Oh?"

_Come on Georgiana, this is your chance, _"My father will do his upmost to get everything out of you, whilst giving you very _little _in return. You would do better to change your tactics with him."

This was getting too much for Falcone; he was sitting on the edge of his seat lapping up every word. "Like what?"

"Ruin his good name. Show the world for what he really is."

"Why you tellin' me this?" Falcone shook his head at her, disbelieving.

Georgiana smiled enigmatically at the Gotham crime lord, and said "Would you rather I hadn't?" She put down her drink and excused herself. She had literally stunned him into silence. Walking up to her bedroom, she knew Falcone would use and abuse that information to within an inch of her father's life. She couldn't wait to see what was going to happen.


	13. Chapter 13

Thank youuuuu for your follows, favourites and reviews! Keep them coming and I'll update with the speediness of a speedy thing!

**Bit of an 'M' rating for this chapter – nothing major but it gets a little hot 'n' heavy near the end...**

Disclaimer: Poozie **NO OWN** DC stuff / Batman / Joker / Harley. Poozie **DO OWN **original characters.

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**Chapter 13**

As Georgiana walked from the room and left Falcone, she could see her father enter through the front door. Ducking swiftly into an adjacent room, Georgiana observed her father stalk into the room she had just left Falcone in. Creeping to the edge of the door, she strained to hear their heated words.

"You _can't _just call me at the office Carmine; whatever you need to discuss with me...surely it can wait until office hours are _closed?" _Hugo was exasperated, and Falcone did not appreciate being talked down to by anyone.

Falcone stood and held his ground, "You better watch how you talk to me _Hugo. _I've been very patient with you...until now."

Hugo grunted "Of course you have. But I think there is the small matter of payment that has yet to be resolved?"

Falcone whistled a long, low note "You got some nerve Quinn. You did nothing!"

"I set up the benefit didn't I?" Georgiana gasped, but clasped a hand over her mouth to mute the sound; _He's a complete sociopath _she thought to herself. Her free hand balled into an angry fist as she contained the fire that threatened to engulf her.

Her father continued: "and let's not forget, you said you would find out who played that...prank on Frederick Lawrence. It has to be one of your thugs! Whoever did it needs to be severely _reprimanded."_

"Yeah, yeah I said I'd take care of that."

"Good, see that you do. Senator Lawrence is one of our biggest investors – I hope you realise that."

Georgiana couldn't quite hear Falcone's response, but she heard the tone of it very clearly. It came with a definite hint of 'fuck you'.

"Well, I assume you can see yourself out?" With that, her father stormed out of the room and Georgiana hid behind the door. She heard Falcone smash a glass and then exit himself. As he passed by the room she was in, he heard a 'psssst'. He turned and saw Georgiana beckoning him into the room with her. Once he was inside, she gently closed the door and put her finger to her mouth.

"Don't do what he asked for, about that prank." She whispered.

Falcone looked at her peculiarly and said nothing.

"He's playing you, getting you to do all the dirty work. You're the Crime Lord of Gotham! You shouldn't have to take that!" She was still whispering but her voice was becoming increasingly animated as she went on. "Look, I can get you some physical evidence of my father's dealings."

"What's in it for you?" He was still not buying it. _Perhaps I should lay on some poor little rich girl logic..._

"My father doesn't love me; in fact I'm pretty sure he hates me. I'm sure you don't need a detailed, blow-by-blow account of our family history, but let's just say we have a _frosty_ relationship."

Falcone was staring at her. Finally he spoke, "You got some chutzpah kid. Fine, OK." He held up his hands as though he was admitting defeat, "When can you get me the information?"

"I can get it to you tonight – where should I deliver it?"

"There's an Italian place in the Narrows called 'Nero's'. I'll be there late."Georgiana nodded, and her fate was sealed.

Falcone grinned, "Nice doin' business with you. I hope you don't think you're making a deal with the devil" he laughed and shook her hand, and Georgiana said cheerfully "Well, Lucifer was an angel himself, before his fall from heaven."

"Sure he was kid. I'll see you tonight" He casually left and Georgiana was all alone in the room, trying to battle the lightheaded feeling that crept over her like a shadow.

##################################################################################

Her father had left an hour ago to attend a meeting, so Georgiana had seized the opportunity to rifle through his office.

She carefully searched through drawers, boxes, filing cabinets until she spied an abnormal looking book on her father's immense book case. She delicately removed it from the shelf and was shocked by what she found inside. The book had been hollowed out, and contained a handgun. She had no idea what kind of gun it was; she picked it up and examined its sleek silver design. _Wonder if it's loaded? _She had seen this kind of gun in the movies, but had no clue how to take the safety off or anything. _I'll show it to Jack, he'll know._

Georgiana hastily put the gun back inside the book, and slipped it back in its place on the bookshelf. She stared hard at the book, but hastily shook herself out of her daydream. She continued her search, but found nothing. She was starting to get disheartened when her hand brushed against something under the desk. She knelt down, and saw a little section of wood that had a strange pattern that was carved into it. She pressed on the pattern and a secret drawer emerged. Georgiana opened the tiny door, and grabbed the papers in there. She flicked through and her eyes grew with astonishment. There were details of offshore bank accounts, briefs on South American guerrilla units – you name it, it was here. It looked like Hugo Quinn was supplying money and weapons to some very, very bad people for lots of cash.

_Bingo._

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Dinner with her father was a strained affair as usual. He barely spoke, and when he did, it was to ask for her to pass something to him. She kept looking at him slyly, and decided to strike up a conversation.

"How is business daddy?"

Hugo looked up her with total apathy, "Business is good Georgiana."

"Oh that's good." _Not for long..._

"Have you seen Freddie? You should pay him a visit."

"But daddy" Georgiana spoke innocently, "I'm not sure...I'm his _type."_

Hugo almost choked on his merlot, "I don't think I appreciate your tone, young lady."

"I don't think I appreciate being treated like chattel, _daddy_."

He started to stand up in anger, but Georgiana sprinted from the room. Hugo narrowed his eyes and threw his napkin down on the table. He didn't have the time or the patience to deal with her whims; he would deal with her later. No reason to let his meal go to waste, Georgiana would keep until morning.

##################################################################################

Georgiana had finally found a cab that would take her to the Narrows, albeit for a hefty price. No sooner had she paid the driver, he put his foot down and got the hell out of there. Georgiana sighed, and entered 'Nero's'.

On the surface, it seemed to resemble a typical Italian restaurant. Candles in Chianti bottles with the wax that dribbled down the neck, soft lighting, red chequered table cloths and the sound of guitars playing Mediterranean folk songs echoing throughout the room. Georgiana looked round, and saw a man with slicked back hair and a close cropped beard leering at her. She suddenly wished she hadn't worn a skirt...

"Pretty one, come over here." The man had an Eastern European accent, but Georgiana couldn't place exactly where the man was from. She walked over slowly, clutching her bag that contained the all-important documents. The foreign man then looked her up and down, "What is girl like you, doing in a place" He looked around himself, "...like this?"

"I'm looking for Mr. Falcone, do you know where I can find him please?"

Before the foreign man could answer he was interrupted by another voice she knew _very _well, "I can take you to him."

She looked up slowly at Jack, "Thank you." She quietly replied. Jack was leaning against the wall staring hard at her.

"He's this way." Jack walked past her, and started to weave through the tables. She followed him, as the foreign man called out to her, "When you come back, we can have drink!" And she saw Jack's fists clench so hard, she thought he would surely draw blood.

They soon approached a table at the back of the room that was clearly the best seat in the house. Falcone was surrounded by two large bodyguards, and digging heartily into a bowl of spaghetti, but he stopped mid-chew when he saw her.

"You sure got some spirit kid, I like that." Falcone said with his mouth half full. He motioned for her to sit opposite him and she could feel Jack's eyes burning into the back of her head.

"I have the, uh, information you need." Falcone continued eating and signalled to Jack to take her bag. She handed it over to him, and without anyone noticing he brushed her fingers with his. Georgiana had to stop herself closing her eyes and revelling in the simple touch.

"You want somethin' to eat? It's good."

"Er, no but thank you for the kind offer." She smiled amiably at him and he shrugged "Your loss sweetheart."

She noticed Harley making some sort of scene through the kitchen door window and her heartbeat quickened. _Shit, that's all I need _she thought."Well, I had better be on my way Mr. Falcone. If you don't mind, of course." He nodded and said "Thanks kid, I won't forget this." Georgiana nodded and made her way to the exit. She could overhear Falcone say, "You like the look of her or somethin' Jacky boy?"

Luckily the foreign man was no longer at the other table, so she slipped back outside into the darkness with no trouble.

She wasn't expecting the firm hand on her shoulder though. Georgiana whipped round and thumped her assailant on the arm.

"Jeez Princess, what was that for?"

"Oh God, sorry Jack, I..I.." he shushed her and led her to an alley way a few yards up. They entered the alley and Jack looked around to make sure they were alone.

"And what are you doing here, hmmm?" He held her shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "Having a secret rendezvous with Falcone?" He tilted his head, "Is there something I should know about...you and him?" his face was serious, but his eyes were alight with mischief.

Georgiana rolled her eyes and smirked, "My father is screwing Falcone over and I decided to use the situation to my advantage." He traced her cheek with his thumb, and moved closer to her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked deeply.

"I want to hit my father where it hurts. Right in his..._reputation."_

"You know, you're even hotter than usual when you're being like this." His breathing became heavier and his hands slid to her waist. She pushed herself closer to him, so there was no sliver of space between them, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pushed her roughly against the alley wall and caught her mouth in a fervent kiss. His hands quickly found their way underneath her top, squeezing her breasts. The slight pain with the pleasure made her moan softly in his mouth. Her hand went south and searched for his hardness through his pants. He broke the kiss and put his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. She unzipped him, and placed her hand on his shaft and started to slowly move it up and down. He started to moan softly and Georgiana was pretty pleased with the effect she was having on him. "If you, ah, keep on doing that...hmm.' She felt a little wetness come out of the top and she moved her thumb softly over the head of his cock. He suddenly lifted her up, and she clamped her legs round his waist. He ripped the crotch of her panties to the side and roughly entered her. She drew in a sharp intake of breath at the sudden intrusion, but soon her body naturally responded to him and she couldn't get enough. Georgiana wanted to get as close as humanly possible to Jack without turning herself inside out.

Jack found her sweet spot and Georgiana practically squealed. "You OK, Princess?" He asked, slowing down his thrusts.

"Jesus, don't you _dare_ stop whatever the hell you're doing." She looked at him with half closed eyes. Jack didn't need to be told twice.

Georgiana came hard, and her whole body shook as the orgasm flowed through her lower areas. Jack followed shortly after, and he buried his face in the nape of her neck which muffled his moan. They stayed in the same position for a moment, waiting for their bodies to come down from the high, before Jack lowered her gently on the ground.

He adjusted himself and then kissed her tenderly. "Come on Princess I'll take you home."

They walked out of the alleyway hand in hand, but when they neared the restaurant they both let go of each other. Unfortunately Harley and another goon were making their way out of the restaurant at the same time.

"Jack!" She called out to him. Jack swore under his breath, and muttered to Georgiana "Leave the talking to me."

They made their way over and Jack shoved his hands in his pocket "Yes, _Harleeey_?"

"What is she doing here?" She glared at Georgiana.

"What's it to you?" Jack glanced over to the goon beside Harley, who was looking at Georgiana in a very unsavoury way. Jack clicked his fingers in front of the guy's face and brought him back to earth 'Hey, Joey, rude to stare...you know that?" He rolled his eyes, and nudged Georgiana in the ribs "Boys, huh?" and made her giggle.

Harley's face grew murderous, "Well, little Miss Quinn shouldn't be here if she knew what was good for her."

Jack dramatically face palmed himself "I know what's wrong with you! It's your _period_ isn't it? PMS-ing all over the joint, huh?" The goon started to laugh, but stopped when Harley threw him a dirty look.

"Awww poor Harley." He made a comically sad face at her, "Don't worry; you'll dry up in time." He patted her on the arm. "Well, it's been fun kids, but Falcone told me to drop off this one." He pointed to Georgiana. Before Harley could say anything, they walked away in the direction of the parking lot. Strolling up to his motorbike, Georgiana couldn't help but chuckle, "She is deranged!" she said to him.

"But, she does have fabulous taste in men." He waggled his eyebrows at her, "Yeah, _good for you." _She replied and gave him the thumbs up.

"Aw shut up and get on the bike, woman." Georgiana laughed and got on behind him. He revved the bike, and she secured the helmet on. She held onto him tightly as they set off, gliding through the Narrows.


	14. Chapter 14

*Waves hello to you* Hi! Thank you so much for reading my story, and I hope you continue to read it!

I'm listening to Eurythmics and a bit of Mr. Scruff / Ellie Goulding / other random stuff as I'm writing...*performs happy little finger dance to 'Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This'.*

There are a couple of songs that really do remind me of Georgiana and Jack's relationship, one is called 'Heartbeats' (original version by The Knife) , and the other is 'Love Is A Stranger' by Eurythmics...there's links to the songs on my profile if you want to check them out.

Ooh I mustn't forget a song for devoted, mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Harley...It's called 'Hanging On' by Active Child.

Disclaimer: I own naaaaaathing of DC. Only original characters.

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**Chapter 14**

The water was cool even though the sun was beating down without a care. Georgiana lay on her back beside the pond, staring into the azure sky overhead. Her pretty green eyes closed as she breathed in her surroundings – the fresh, clean, pure scent of being outside and away from the putrid odour of skulduggery that clung within her home. Her eyelashes lay fanned on the delicate pallor of her skin, then her eyes opened like a flower that was just awaking with the dawn.

She didn't feel guilty about effectively selling her father out, in fact she rejoiced in the thought of him being presented on a silver platter for the wolves to take a bite from. However, she had been feeling a bit 'under the weather' for the past couple of days, but she just put that down to being tired from everything that happened recently. She had even been a bit sick this morning, but had quickly brushed it off as nothing. _I'm so tired, I just need a rest...s_he yawned and stretched her slender limbs like a cat lazing in a sunny spot.

Georgiana raised her hands so that she could examine them, turning them round to get a good look at them. She dropped them onto her stomach abruptly and heaved a heavy sigh. She wearily hoisted herself up and dawdled her way back to the house.

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The coolness of the hallway hit Georgiana straight away, as the hairs on her arm stood to attention like tiny soldiers. She walked slowly towards the staircase, but was stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a figure move in the 'fine' living room. She stood there as a dull panic began to crawl through her chest. _What the hell? _She muttered inwardly as she strained to see if the figure was real...or just a figment of her imagination.

She removed her shoes and felt the cold marble underneath her feet as she moved stealthily towards the room. Holding her breath, she poked her head around the door and her face fell through the floor.

"What are _you _doing here?" She scowled.

Freddie turned and locked eyes with Georgiana, "Hello _Georgie_." He narrowed his eyes, "I came to see you actually."

Georgiana flung the door wide open with anger and jeered, "Didn't you notice from the last time we met...that I can't _stand_ you."

"Oh, it's not a social call. I wanted to talk _business."_

"I want nothing to do with you!" Georgiana shouted. She was feeling nauseous enough already without Freddie trying to intimidate her as well. She spun round to run away from him, but he swung out to catch her arm and threw her like a sack of potatoes down into a nearby chair. He trapped her quickly by clamping his hands down on both armrests and putting his face unbearably close to hers. Georgiana tried to hit him in the chest, but Freddie suddenly grasped her neck so hard she was in danger of blacking out from the shock.

"You will listen to what I have to say." He hissed, baring his teeth in sheer fury. "Because of you and your gangster _fuck-buddy_, I'm now the laughing stock of Gotham. But...I have a plan." Georgiana was staring fearfully into his eyes, trying to appeal to any mercy he might feel for her. Unfortunately, she saw only pure, unadulterated revenge.

"Are you going to listen?" he asked her viciously. Georgiana gasped out a yes, but it came more like 'sss'. He released his hold on her neck, and placed the hand back on the armrest carefully.

"Because you got me into this mess, you're going to help me get out of it."

"And how precisely am I going to do that?" She asked hotly while rubbing her sore neck.

"We're going to be _seen_...together... around town. We are going to be seen enjoying life, _being _so unbelievably happy that people will wonder how unicorns and rainbows aren't exploding out of both our asses on a full time basis."

Georgiana wore a befuddled expression, and then started to laugh nervously, "What? You cannot be serious? What the hell will that achieve?"

His face was an inch from hers, "It'll show to everyone, I'm not some _fag_." He roared into her face. Freddie then composed himself and patted her face gently, "Oh Georgie, your father isn't the only one who knows people on the wrong side of the tracks..."

"What are you saying?"

He lifted himself from the armrests and stood over her, "If you don't _help me, _I'll do two things." He lifted up one finger, "One, I'll tell your father what his_ virginal_ little daughter has been getting up to with some low life hood." He lifted up two fingers, "and two, I'll arrange it so _lover boy_ won't be so damn _pretty_ anymore." Freddie narrowed his eyes and sniggered, "there are people who are very talented in that specific field of work, if you catch my drift?"

Georgiana couldn't believe her ears. "Jesus, Freddie...I" She was absolutely gobsmacked at what she was hearing. He could be bluffing, but the look in his eyes was far too genuinely hateful to be untrue.

Looking down at her wringing hands, she couldn't think a way out of this trap, but maybe she could buy some time. She looked up into his steely eyes and spoke dully, "Do I have to give you my answer right now?"

"What do you think I am? Some sort of animal?" He grinned. "I'll give you until tomorrow night, when I'll pick you up at 8." Freddie then gave her a very loving kiss on the cheek, and Georgiana had to force her upchuck reflux to calm down. The kiss burned her skin where his lips had invaded, and she instantly wanted to scrub that spot of skin away into oblivion.

"I'll see you tomorrow Georgie."

Freddie left her and Georgiana was once again, alone. She simply sat there and burst into floods of tears.

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Later that night, Georgiana lay spread-eagled on her bed feeling utterly defeated. She thought she was starting to control her life and starting to be the person she wanted to be, but Freddie had ripped the carpet from under her feet. Georgiana couldn't take the onslaught of obstacles that she was constantly facing each and every day, all she felt was pain and anxiety. The only time she felt happy was with Jack.

_Speak of the devil, _Georgiana looked up and saw a pair of long, black trouser-clad legs come through the window. She turned to lie on her side, facing the window and held her head with her hand.

"Hello Jack." She said softly as he stood and stretched.

He winked at her "Miss me?"

She shook her head and giggled. He walked up to the bed and crawled on top of her. "Your, uh, dad home?"

"No, he's working late, thank God." He kissed her softly on her lips, and then stopped to give her an inquisitive look.

"Something up?"

Georgiana moved from underneath him, and sat on the edge of the bed. She proceeded to tell him about her _discussion _with Freddie earlier that day. He sat quietly, absorbing every detail that she gave him, even taking in the slight hitches in her voice and how her body language would change at certain parts of the story. When she had finished, he got up and started to walk around the room. He had his hands in his pockets, and resembled a man who was taking a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. He ended up in front of the poster that showed '_The Agony in the Garden'_ by William Blake. Without turning around he spoke, "Do you have a gun, princess?"

Georgiana's eyes fluttered to look at his black boots, "No, but I know where I can get one."

He turned round slowly and looked at her. She got up and took hold of his hand and led him to her father's office. Once inside, she located the hollow book and showed him the gun that was inside.

He took the gun like a pro; he handled it, checked the sight was clear and even emptied the chamber, only to reload it straight away.

"What kind of gun is it?" She asked quietly.

"It's a Glock 17. I'm guessing you've never handled one before?"

"Er, no."

"Well today is your lucky day. 'Cos I have." He gave her a wide grin and laughed. "Is there anywhere _outside_ that we won't get disturbed?"

"You know the place you found me when you _stalked_ me that first time?" She looked sideways at him, and said in a silvery voice, "we can go there."

"Pfffft..stalked! You shouldn't have given me those 'come-find-me-in-my-huge-garden' eyes!" he nudged her, "No funny business OK, I know what you're like." He tapped his nose, then hers.

Georgiana grabbed a flashlight and an oil lamp (_how very Jane Eyre of you Georgiana, _she had announced in her head to herself) and they walked down to the Water Garden.

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"Now, pull it back. No the top part. Look where you're gonna shoot..._trust me_. Relax your shoulders and breathe. Now, you got it in your sights? Good, pull the trigger."

The gunshot echoed through the air and frightened a few birds from the treetops. Georgiana hadn't been steady enough with her arm and the shot had completely missed her target; a large dead branch that looked rather sorry for itself. Georgiana swore under her breath, and Jack giggled but soon started to disguise it as coughing when Georgiana flung a death glare right at him.

"I hope you're not expecting me to shoot him." She grumbled.

"Noooo, I expect you to make him shit his pants." He walked up behind her, put his hands over hers and started to guide the gun in her hands slowly. "Besides I want the privilege of using Old Peculiar on him." He squeezed her trigger finger, and the bullet hit the branch dead centre.

Georgiana felt his body warmth behind her, and breathed in his scent, "Who's Old Peculiar?" she murmured.

"My _favourite _knife." He whispered in her ear.

"Of course you would have a favourite knife..." she cracked up. He released his hold, and bounded over to the bag that he had brought with him. Georgiana looked on curiously as he rummaged for whatever he was looking for. "Ah HA! Found it!" He pulled out a little metal ball, which resembled a dirty silver golf ball.

He leapt over to her eagerly and placed it in her hands. Jack looked into her face and back at the ball, then back at her face like an excitable, slightly mad, puppy.

"What is it?" Georgiana turned the ball over to see if she could make out what the fuss was.

"Well, it's a little toy I came up with. It's all a bit technical..." Georgiana raised an elegant eyebrow in reponse, "...but once you activate it here" he showed her a small indentation in the balls surface, "and you put that anywhere near his cell phone, I can lock onto the GPS signal and know exactly where he is." He looked down at her, looking as pleased as punch.

"There's no end to your talents, is there Jack." She gave him a lopsided smile.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, Princess."


	15. Chapter 15

Hi all! Just to let you know, I've 'borrowed' some script from Dark Knight, the part when Lucius Fox goes to see Lau in Hong Kong.

Also, this chapter is only a bit of a teaser, as I want to go pretty epic in chapter 16...

Disclaimer: I own everything in the whole wide world. Expect DC stuff.

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**Chapter 15**

The next day came far too quickly for Georgiana, as she woke up feeling ill in her bed alone. She was a little relieved that Jack hadn't been able to stay the night as he, in his words, had 'business' to take care off. As she lay there dozing, trying in vain to wake herself up, Georgiana felt the sudden urge to vomit rise in her stomach and plunder its way towards her mouth. She quickly threw her quilt to the side and ran to her bathroom where she stuck her head over the toilet bowl.

She remained there retching until there was nothing left that could possibly come up. _I think I'm dying, _Georgiana thought unhappily as a few last convulsions racked her body. She laid her head on the cool, tiled floor and squeezed her eyes tightly. It seemed to Georgiana that her body had a strange vendetta against her in trying to make her weak and listless, when at this moment in her life, she really needed all the strength she could lay her hands on.

Georgiana was trying to remember if she had eaten something that tasted a little off. If she wasn't better tomorrow she decided she would go and see the doctor and then get some antibiotics. "God damn food poisoning_." _She mumbled into the ground

A huge '_knock_ _knock'_ echoed up to her room and Georgiana slowly opened her eyes when she heard the sound. Her father was working from home today, and she assumed he must have a scheduled a meeting. She got up from the floor and made her way to the door, which was slightly ajar.

She heard two male voices, one was her father's and the other was a voice she did recognise but couldn't place. She glanced out of the crack in the door and she saw Lucius Fox looking down at the floor in front of him as he made small talk with Hugo Quinn. _What is he doing here? _Georgiana flung on her robe, and went to eavesdrop on the two men.

She crept up to her father's study and knelt down to peek through the keyhole. Her breathing became slower as she focussed on her father, who was standing by the book case, near the hollow book that Georgiana stole the gun from. She couldn't see Lucius but she presumed he was standing in front of Hugo.

"The deal needs to be put on hold, Mr. Fox?" Her father was looking perplexed.

"Mr. Quinn...Wayne Industries... can't afford to be seen to be doing business with... well, whatever it is you're accused of being. "

Hugo went on a manipulative charm offensive, "Lucius, really...these rumours are just _rumours. _A businessman of your stature can surely see that. There are those who would try and tear you down and bring you down to their level. That's all it is."

"I'm sure that's all is too, but a businessman of _your stature_ will understand our reasons for wanting to park the deal for a little longer." Her father would have looked flabbergasted, but he hid it well. Only Georgiana could see through his charismatic veneer, and she could _sense_ the total astonishment.

"I'm sorry to hear that Lucius. I'm not sure that there's anything else to say? I think, perhaps, a phone call would have sufficed."

"We didn't want you to think we were deliberately wasting your time, Hugo."

Her father sent a cold look in the direction of Lucius Fox, "No, just accidently wasting it."

Lucius started to get up, and Georgiana took that as her cue to dart back down the long landing towards her bedroom.

She gently closed her door behind her and walked over to the chest of drawers which were on the opposite side of her bed. Slowly, she opened the top drawer of the chest, and dipped her hand in between the clothing, until she touched something hard and cold. Gripping her fingers around the object, she picked it up out the drawer and revealed the gun to herself.

Georgiana sauntered over to the long mirror, and stood in front of it watching her reflection. Her mind was on fire at what had just transgressed in her father's office, but her face wore a calm mask. The first pieces of the jigsaw were starting to fit together, _things _were starting to happen...and it felt _glorious_. Georgiana felt the tainted scales of being associated with her father begin to fall from her. With that came a sense of her own freedom, which was starting to feel excitingly close . She raised the gun slowly and pointed it at the mirror version of her face and held her position. Georgiana looked into her own eyes as she smiled to herself.

"Bang." She said quietly, and then gave a little laugh.

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"Georgiana, Freddie's here." Her father knocked on her bedroom door. Georgiana had been in her room the whole day, and it had irked her father somewhat. His temper had been appeased by the fact his suddenly stubborn daughter had _deigned _to go on a date with Senator Lawrence's son, but he was still furious at how her behaviour had deteriorated rapidly over the last month. But, he could let it go, he thought to himself, if she didn't screw it up with Freddie.

Georgiana hurriedly grabbed the gun of of her dressing table and shoved it in her purse. She also had put in there, the little silver tracking ball that Jack had given to her, so he could locate Freddie. Georgiana had hoped it was some kind of mini bomb, which she could fling at Freddie, and then BOOM! Freddie pieces splattered everywhere. _Ho hum, but it's not, _she mused.

She smoothed down her pretty dark purple silk top and went to leave her room. She had decided to go 'chic casual' for her _date _with Freddie. She teamed the top with a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of beautiful patent black Louboutin high heels.

Walking down the stairs she locked eyes with Freddie who gave her a smug smile. He walked up to her and, like always, kissed her on the cheek. Georgiana glanced up at Freddie and gave him a coy look. Hugo was immediately thrilled by the scene and piped up, "You two...what a wonderful couple you make." Georgiana looked sideways at him and said "Don't we just." Freddie gave her hand a painful squeeze and grinned at her. "Let's go Georgie, or we'll be late."

"Of course Freddie, we wouldn't want that." She looked lovingly at him, and was amazed by the strength of her own performance. He appeared pleased by her response and they walked out of Quinn hall, hand in hand towards his car. When her father was out of sight she ripped her hand out his, and wiped it on her trousers. Freddie pouted and said "Oh come on Georgie." He pulled her close to him, "_it's not like I'm old and ugly." _Georgiana couldn't believe he had said those horrid words to her again, and the shameful disgusting memories of the maze came flooding back. She wriggled out of his embrace, and stalked off to his car.

Freddie laughed and walked after her. He was _thoroughly _enjoying himself already_. _Georgiana found the car was open, and she slipped inside. Freddie followed shortly and got in beside her on the driver's side, "Let's get this over with." She scowled at him, but inside she was excited...so incredibly excited to find out what was going to happen tonight. Whatever it was, it was another step in the _right _direction.


	16. Chapter 16

Phewww this one is longer than the last chapter, but I just had to get it all down as I was so excited to write it. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own everything in the whole wide world. Expect DC stuff.

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**Chapter 16**

They entered Mizu at around 8pm, and were immediately greeted by the glacial hostess who was acting as the almighty gatekeeper to the restaurant. She looked to be around in her late twenties and wore an extremely prim black dress, but it was obvious to Georgiana that it was an expensive one. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an oversized ballerina bun, which further added to the hostess's severe aura. Freddie walked up to her and gave her his name. Once he said the magic words "Freddie Lawrence" her demeanour literally melted. Georgiana could have kicked the stupid woman at how ridiculously sycophantic she was being. After the ass licking the Hostess gave Freddie, she led them to their table.

Mizu was a very trendy upmarket Japanese restaurant that Georgiana had wanted to try out. Just not with _Freddie_. She looked around and took in the subtle decor of the place; dark brown woods, bamboo pieces of art, soft lighting that came from Japanese style lanterns that hung down from the ceiling, and the Pièce de résistance: A large ice sculpted Buddha that sat under a giant temple bell on a bottom-lit floor.

They arrived at their table and both took their seats. Freddie took off his jacket and put it around the back of his chair. He tried to take hold of Georgiana's hand, but she swiftly retrieved it before he could touch her. Freddie rolled his eyes, but before he could make a snide remark, he was distracted by the waitress who came to take their drinks order.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" The waitress asked, who wore such huge fake eyelashes that they looked like spiders had taken refuge on her eyelids

She took their drinks order and walked off over to the bar. Georgiana saw another young couple near to them, who looked so happy. They were holding each other's hands, leaning in tenderly and laughing softly. The girl's face glowed with love towards her date and her smile shone through her eyes. Georgiana swallowed to ease her dry throat, but hadn't noticed Freddie watching her. "Georgie, if we are going to make this believable, you might want to look at me..." Georgiana stared blankly at him, and then sighed.

"You know, we don't have to do this. There are other girls who would have gone out with you."

Freddie opened his menu and without looking at her said, "Yes, but I didn't want _them_." Those words sent a shiver down Georgiana's spine as she also picked up her menu.

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They had just ordered when Freddie decided to leave the table to visit the bathroom. Georgiana watched him walk away and as soon as he was out of view, she seized her chance. She took the little silver ball out of her handbag, and touched the indentation on its surface, which then made a little 'beep' noise as she held it in her hand. Georgiana sidled up to Freddie's chair, and surreptitiously put her hand into his inside pocket. She felt his cell phone and popped the silver ball next to it. She heard another beep and then nothing. _Wonder if it's going to work? _She asked herself. Snapping herself back into the real world, she smoothly sidled back to her seat and sipped delicately on her Gin and Tonic, hoping no one had seen her. She glanced around and saw the other tables were blissfully unaware of what she had just done. She gave herself a little smirk in triumph.

Freddie appeared around the corner, and Georgiana's hastily changed her expression back to neutral. He sat back down, "The food isn't here yet?"

"Patience is a virtue Freddie." He snorted in response, and shook his head.

They waited for around twenty minutes for their food to arrive, and Georgiana was glad for the interruption. Freddie had been trying to bait her the whole time about Jack, and how Georgiana was merely 'slumming it' with him for the time being. "I guess you have some wild oats to sow of your own." He mused aloud. Georgiana wished she could have shot him right there and then, just to shut his jealous, mealy mouth up.

All of a sudden, something in the atmosphere changed as they felt someone approach their table. They both looked up and Georgiana almost fell off of her chair in delight. Jack was striding up to their table, looking extremely _cocky. _He had his hands in his pockets and his head tilted slightly back, lowly whistling 'Singing in the Rain'. Jack's eyes told a different story though, as he honed in on Freddie. They held a predatory glimmer that if any prey saw it; they would effectively curl up and die on the spot, because it would have been incredibly pointless to try and run away. Freddie stood up slowly as Jack approached.

Jack gave him a toothy grin and said, "Well, uh, thanks for keeping her warm, but I'll take it from here." Freddie was seething, which made Jack even more highly amused.

"Fuck you." Freddie spat at him. Jack looked over at Georgiana and waved happily. She waved back and Jack looked over at Freddie again and said in an overly friendly tone, "Look I know you're into the whole 'Friends of Dorothy' thing, but I just want to make something clear." He walked up close to Freddie until their noses were almost touching and continued in a creepy low voice, "...but I'm not."

Freddie took a swing at him, but Jack ducked out of the way and propelled himself into Freddie's stomach with his shoulder. They ploughed into Freddie's chair and Georgiana stood up quickly to get out of harm's way. They continued scuffling and fighting throughout the restaurant, with Jack loudly howling with laughter the entire time. All Georgiana heard of Freddie was the odd grunt or cuss word as Jack laid some blows into him. The scene would have actually been quite funny to watch as these two tall, well built guys wailed on each other; knocking people's food to the floor, picking up chairs and hurling them at one another and Jack giggling as Freddie attempted to beat the shit out of him. They were running amok amongst the horrified diners, and creating an awful lot of chaos.

Georgiana heard that someone was going to call the police. She yelled out to them, "Guys, STOP IT! THEY'RE CALLING THE POLICE!" This didn't bother them one bit, so she picked up her fork and ran over to them. She waited for an opportune moment to intervene, and when Freddie had managed to straddle Jack and was trying to pummel him, she stabbed Freddie in his thigh with the fork. He screamed out in pain and fell backwards off of Jack, clutching his thigh in agony. Jack scrambled up and gave Georgiana an impressed look, but she just shrugged back.

"We have to get out of here." She whispered to Jack. He looked back at her and smirked, "Not without Freddie –boy!" With that, he turned to Freddie and shouted down at him "Do you want to stop whining like a little bitch, and continue our _little _talk somewhere else?" Freddie flipped him the bird, and pulled the fork out of his leg. He let out a string of expletives as he did this, but looked up at Jack once he was done and barked "Let's go then!" Jack pulled him up and they all ran towards the fire exit at the back of the restaurant.

Freddie was trailing behind them slightly as his minor injury was slowing him down. Georgiana looked back at him, and saw him power on through his pain. _I should never have underestimated the healing power of hatred, _she thought as she made her way out into the alley way.

Jack guided them over to an old, beat up van, and gestured for them to get in, but Freddie stalled. "You've got to be joking, I'm not driving anywhere with you!"

Jack stared wickedly back at him, "Well, I'm sure the cops can give you a ride home if you want?" Freddie's eyes widened and he hit the side of the van out of frustration.

"Hey! The van did NOT deserve that!" Jack then let out a brusque laugh. Freddie looked at Georgiana and gave her a withering look. "You rather be with this _clown_ than with me? COME ON!"

Georgiana's fists clenched but her face was the essence of calm. She replied politely, "Fuck you, he makes me laugh." Freddie was aghast, "You're just as crazy as he is!" When Jack heard this, he burst into fits of laughter.

"Oh _you_...you just _kill _me!" Jack wiped the tears from his eyes and continued laughing. "Or maybe, I kill you?" More laughter ensued.

"Perhaps we should get into the van?" Georgiana could hear sirens wailing in the distance, but she was far from panicking. She weirdly found the noise to be a little, _funny_. They sounded like banshees from a bad horror movie, where you could see the ghosts flying through the room on pieces of string. She let out a little giggle, which Jack noticed and so he smiled devilishly at her.

They hopped into the van, but Jack had forced Freddie to get into the back, much to Freddie's chagrin. "I'm gonna drive _so_ bad." Jack mumbled to himself, "Buckle up Princess," he shouted, and started the van up. He put his foot down, and drove out the alley and into the darkness of Gotham.

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They finally pulled up outside of an old abandoned warehouse in the Narrows, which radiated an arid sadness from its walls. Jack leapt out of the van and flung the back doors open. Freddie had lost none of the vigour from the fight earlier and flew right at Jack, knocking him down. Unfortunately, this had given Freddie the edge, as he now began choking Jack and trying to beat his head against the ground. He was far too gone in his fury to care if he killed Jack or not. He wanted this obstacle out of the way and he was going to get rid of it, by fair means or foul. Freddie could see Jack was almost slipping out of consciousness and this filled him with utter joy.

A shot abruptly rang out in the darkness and he loosened his grip on Jack's throat. Freddie started to burble blood from his mouth, and splatters of spit and blood fell onto Jack's upturned face. His body slumped slowly off of Jack, who quickly removed himself from under Freddie. He stayed to watch him as the last bit of life convulsed and shuddered out of him.

"I shot him, Jack." Georgiana stood there, with the gun still poised. Jack walked up to her, coughing, and took the gun from her hands.

"Good shot." He wheezed at her.

"I was aiming for his shoulder, not his neck." Georgiana was caught up in a trance. She felt something that was akin to a high, and she hadn't quite come down from it yet. Her heart was hammering away in her chest so painfully; she thought it would break through the bone. Jack raised his hand to touch her face, but his attention was caught by a writhing Freddie who had still not quite died.

"Oh Freddie, it's not all about _you,_ you know!" Jack flailed his arms and went over to him to kick him in the stomach. He stuck the gun in the back of his trousers, and then produced a hunting knife from his boot. Georgiana couldn't take her eyes off of Jack as he straddled Freddie, and started to rip his cheeks into a grisly smile. In the past, she would have cried or averted her eyes, or even fainted. But the more she watched Jack at _work, _the more she wanted to _have _him.

Jack turned to look over his shoulder at Georgiana, and gazed into her eyes. She felt that electric connection once again and it made her tremble with anticipation. He leisurely got up from Freddie and walked over to Georgiana, never breaking the eye contact. Jack pulled her to him and caught her mouth in a brutal kiss. They were locked in their intense embrace for a matter of moments, before Jack pulled his lips away and Georgiana emitted a little moan of displeasure.

"What happens now?" Georgiana asked him in a hushed tone.

"Do I look like a guy with a plan?" He looked into her eyes, only for his lips to find hers again, as if that would be all the answer she required from him. And for Georgiana, it certainly was.

They moved apart in unison, and walked up to Freddie's corpse. Georgiana took his legs, while Jack grabbed hold of him under the arms. They carried him to the van and threw him into the back in an unceremonious fashion. Georgiana tilted her head to take in the sight of the moon. It was full and round, and gave off an eerie glow that made Georgiana think of umpteen plays and novels she had read where the moon had an 'effect' on people's minds. _Lunatic comes from Luna, doesn't it? _She asked herself as she got in the passenger side of the van.

"I know where we can get rid of the body." Jack's voice broke through her thoughts like a sledgehammer.

"Where?" she frowned back at him.

"There's a mob-run funeral parlour..." before he could finish Georgiana burst out laughing.

"A what?" She couldn't contain herself as Jack got the giggles too.

"It's true! There's a mob-run funeral parlour in the Narrows. We can take him there and get him cremated, no questions asked." He looked slyly at Georgiana, "It's a very moving service I hear." Georgiana shook her head and smiled. "You take me to all the best places..."

Jack knocked her chin affectionately and winked at her. He drove the van back into the Narrows, and they both shared the calm which the night air appeared to produce in abundance, and it covered them like a warm cloak.


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you for the reviews, alerts and faves guys! Keep 'em coming! :D xx

Oooh another song for the playlist is Placebo – Running up That Hill!

Disclaimer: I don't think DC or Chris Nolan have anything to worry about with regards to me profiting from their characters *opens purse and moth flies out*. I only own original characters.

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**Chapter 17**

"Uh, Jack? The police station?" Georgiana was beyond bemused. Droplets of panic began to materialize in her brain as she peered at the grey stone building that housed the Gotham City Police Department. Why had he brought her here?

"Listen to me." He caught her chin in his thumb and forefinger, and stared forcefully into her eyes. "You need to go in there and report what happened tonight." Georgiana stared blankly at him. The heat of frustration soon developed on her cheeks. Georgiana huffed and removed her chin from his hold, but didn't break the eye contact. His words started to sink in as she slowly realised what he was asking her to do. Her green eyes widened as she put her own understanding of the situation into words.

"...because if I don't, it'll seem odd...what with all those witnesses..." She trailed off but she could see Jack nodding his agreement. "What should I say?"

"Tell them what happened. OK, maybe not the _shooting Freddie_ part!" Jack shook his hands like a jazz man at her, "After the restaurant...tell them, the guy..." he pointed to his face. "...i.e. _me_...dumped you in the narrows, but he took Freddie off somewhere," He was becoming more and more animated as he concocted the story. "Tell them, you heard something about money being owed...you know, anything like that." Georgiana soaked all of the information up, but she still felt a little nervous. She had just shot a guy for Christ's sake and now she had to go and effectively paint a false picture of tonight's _events_ with enough conviction so no suspicion would fall on her.

She broke the eye contact with Jack and turned to face the window. Lifting her head slightly, Georgiana blew on the glass and her breath appeared on the window. Jack watched her closely as she idly drew a cloud with a lightning bolt. From where he was sat, it looked like the lightening that she had traced was directly hitting the police station. Georgiana quickly wiped away her doodle, and turned back to face him. Looking at each other, they sat there calmly taking in each other's faces, memorising the tiny flaws and imperfections, the slight muscle movements, everything. Her hand moved towards his and the tips of their fingers touched, she trembled from the small touch and sighed. "I'd better go." she whispered.

Jack grabbed her and kissed her fiercely, threatening to bruise her soft lips. His kisses had always been passionate but lately there was a suggestion of possessiveness that crept through into them. "Get them to take you home." He ordered her.

"Yes sir, Mr. Napier." She saluted with a soft laugh, and then made her exit out of the van. Jack watched her cross the street, until she was safely into the police station. He cautiously touched his lips with his long tapered fingers, and tried to feel the kiss they had just shared. His fingers then curled and he forced his hand back to the steering wheel. He started up the van and drove carefully to the funeral parlour. Jack was so unbelievably angry at himself, the way he was with this girl. He was not what you call the romantic type, he was more like a 'love them and leave them' kind of guy. To be honest, he had never been interested in women other than to use them as a way to satisfy his natural urges, and there had been plenty of willing volunteers. But when he had seen Georgiana...God, it just all made sense. He remembered when he had first caught a glimpse of her beautiful face, semi-hidden by the shadows outside her father's study; when her large green eyes had finally looked up at him. For the first time, he was most definitely _interested _for more than one reason_. _However, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling of weakness that proceeded to edge over him. He did not like that...one...bit. He had tried to put her out of his mind after that first meeting in the garden, but he couldn't stay away. Jack had tried to convince himself that maybe this girl was a passing phase, someone he could use and throw away like all the rest. But he knew he was lying to himself; the more he had of her, the more he _craved. _He just couldn't get enough.

Sparks of long forgotten memories started to ignite in Jack's head, and he clutched his head in pain causing the van to swerve. His father's alcohol ravaged face appeared in his mind's eye only for it to vanish when he heard a couple of car horns blast at him. He took the wheel again and steadied himself. _See what weakness does Jack? It makes you take your eye off of the ball. _"Shut up." He muttered to himself as he continued his solitary drive back to the Narrows.

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Georgiana walked into the Police Station and looked around. There were a couple of officers who were trying to restrain a junkie and get him to a holding cell. She continued watching as the junkie actually spat in one of the officer's faces and shouted various threats at them; so and so knew where they lived and this guy was going to cut them into ribbons. More threats echoed through the air as they made their way down the hall towards the holding cells. Georgiana saw the coast was clear, and stepped towards the reception window. There was a middle aged police woman behind the desk, with short dark blonde hair and a deeply wrinkled, hard edged face. She looked up as Georgiana approached and her grey eyes softened.

"Good evening Miss, are you all right?" She asked in a motherly fashion. Georgiana was taken aback. With this woman's hard exterior she certainly didn't anticipate such a warm response. It made Georgiana's heart ache a little, making her think of her own motherless life.

"Um, I need to report something." She nervously responded. Her fingers started to play with the pen that was chained to the reception desk. "The guy I was with, got kidnapped. I don't know where he is."

The woman nodded and a sad look crossed her face. She asked for her name and address and then murmured, "Take a seat Miss, and I'll get someone to see you." The woman picked up the phone but stopped, "Would you like a cup of coffee, or a soda?" Georgiana shook her head, "No thanks." and gave the woman a small smile.

She sat there for ten minutes before she saw someone rush into the waiting room. "Georgiana Quinn?"

"Officer John Blake." A smile appeared on her lips; she got up and shook his hand. "Hello again." He was staring at her, but composed himself quickly. "Sorry ma'am. I was thinking about you the other day. I'm glad to see your bruises have healed up nicely."

She was surprised by his statement, but brushed it off, "Call me Georgiana, please. I always think 'ma'am' makes me sound like an old biddy." Officer Blake smiled warmly, and ushered her to a small interview room. Inside the room was another police officer, a young brunette woman with a shiny name tag that read 'G. Ramirez'.

"Hi, Miss Quinn." The female officer greeted her. "I'm Officer Gabriela Ramirez, and this is Officer John Bl-"

"Yeah she knows who I am" Blake cut her off, and Ramirez gave him an odd look, "We've met before. I took her home after the Arkham hold up." Ramirez looked back quizzically at Georgiana.

"OK, well that's good. Now, Miss Quinn, you have a kidnapping to report? Can you tell us everything you remember? Don't worry, even if you think of the smallest, insignificant detail, you should tell us. That could mean all the difference in finding your friend."

Georgiana was wringing her sweaty hands; she was very nervous and kept telling herself not to screw up over and over again in her head. She took a deep breath and let the words flow out of her.

"We were at Mizu, on 47th street. We were eating, obviously, and then this man comes up and starts a fight with Freddie...Frederick Lawrence. I panicked and picked up a fork, and thought I was helping..." She didn't finish.

Officer Blake encouraged her to continue and Georgiana looked up into his sincere eyes. _He's ever so nice, isn't he? _

"...I stabbed Freddie in the thigh, instead of the other guy...by accident." The officers shared a brief look, and Georgiana saw that Blake was trying to suppress a smile.

"Then we ran out of the restaurant, I'm not sure why. The guy pulled out a gun, and ordered us into the back of his van."

"What did the van look like?" Ramirez asked.

"It was big, a Ford I think? Dirty white colour." Jack's van was black, but she had no idea what make it was. "We drove for a while, until we stopped and he dragged me out of the van. I had no idea where I was; I think it was the Narrows...I walked for such a long time until I was out of the bad neighbourhood...and I came to the police station." Georgiana breathed out.

"What did the guy look like?" Blake inquired.

_Oh great! Make it vague Georgiana. _"Tall, thin, not sure if he was blonde or had light brown hair. He was wearing...black jeans and a grey hoodie."

"How old did you think he was? Anything that would make him stick out? Scars? Tattoos? "

"I think he was in his mid twenties? And no, he was pretty unremarkable I'm afraid." _Unremarkable my ass, _she thought to herself.

Officer Blake was scribbling away in his note book. "Can you think of anything else? Anything at all?"

Georgiana looked up sadly, "Only that there was a mention of money that needed paying. I don't know what for though." The officers both nodded and Ramirez handed her a form to fill in. "Can you write down everything you remember Miss Quinn. However we may need to contact you again if we have any further questions."

"Of course, Officer. I hope you can find him." The words almost stuck in Georgiana's throat. She filled in the form, and after she was finished, asked, "Is it all right if I go home now?"

"Yes of course, do you need a ride home?" Officer Blake offered and Ramirez gave him a sharp look.

"Thank you. Is it OK if I go and find the restroom first?" Blake nodded. They left the interview room and Blake pointed the restroom out to her. "I'll wait in the reception area for you." Georgiana left the two officers alone, and Ramirez turned to Blake and gave him a crooked smile, "Since when are you a taxi driver, Blake?" He genuinely looked offended, "Hey, it's our job to give a damn about the welfare of Gotham citizens. Serve and Protect, right? And here we have a young girl who's gone through a hell of a lot. Not only was she beaten senseless by some thug at that Arkham bust, but she's now just witnessed her boyfriend being brutally kidnapped, right in front of her eyes!" He was exasperated by Ramirez's attitude, and didn't appreciate the insinuations she was making.

Ramirez held up her hands, "Sheesh, OK! Forget I said anything. Just saying...you don't take _all_ the damsels in distress home." She added as a cheeky dig. He raised his eyebrow at her "She's 17 Ramirez! I'm 24! You are so wrong!" Ramirez just laughed at him. They both saw Georgiana walking towards them, and they straightened up.

"I'm ready when you are Officer Blake."

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Jack arrived back at his apartment after his business at the funeral parlour. He wearily put his key in the lock and opened the cheap maroon coloured door straight into his small living room slash bedroom. His place was small, but it had served him well. There were books piled up high against the walls, all of varying topics; applied sciences, mechanics, robotics, chemistry, literary classics – you name it, Jack had probably read it. His eyes hovered over his messy bed, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hi Jack, where've you been?" Harley was lying there in tight red skinny jeans and a black corseted top which accentuated her curves. Jack stood there and whispered dangerously, "You're in my apartment." His hand reached into his pocket and started to touch his switch blade. "Why is that, Harley?"

She rose to her knees and tried to win him over by acting as seductively as she could. "Jack, do you remember the last time I was on your bed?" She raised her hands to grab the back of her neck, pushing out her bust.

"Yes, we fucked. End of story." Jack bluntly stated. The thought left a bad taste in his mouth, Harley had practically laid it on a plate for him, and to be honest it was pretty _mechanical. _He had an itch and Harley was hanging around, as usual, so he used her to scratch it. It had happened one time and ever since then, Harley just wouldn't get the hint that there was nothing between them. And now, his mind always thought of a certain pair of green eyes - he had no room for any _others_.

Harley's face darkened and her hands fell to her sides, "Oh of course, I forgot. You're so in love with that stupid preppy bitch." In a flash, Jack had her pinned down on the bed with his switchblade pressed up under her eyeball. He was like a raging demon as he held her down, his knees digging into her stomach.

"Don't talk about her, don't even think about her. You are _nothing._" He seethed, his eyes shone with unconcealed fury. Harley looked into his eyes, and witnessed just how black they had become. Violence, death and anger is all she saw.

Harley wheezed out, "Do you think she loves you? Do you? Those kind of people _use _people like us." Jack's blade moved downwards to her cheek and he attempted to slice her.

"She's going to tear your heart out!" She screamed at him. Jack stopped what he was doing, and instead punched her in the face. He got up and walked to the kitchen sink to wash his hands, whilst Harley wept in the background, "She's going to hurt you, Jack. Can't you see? She's using you to do her dirty work." She got up from the bed and walked towards him. He didn't turn around as she continued to speak.

"I know that you took a body to get cremated at Bobby's. You did it for her didn't you? I'm sure Falcone would love to hear that you're doing some unpaid work on the side, or I guess she's paying you _in some way." _He whipped round and she instantly cowered. His hands were still dripping wet but that didn't stop him from taking her face in both of his hands, "If you say anything to Falcone, I'll tear _your_ heart out." He flung Harley to the floor and looked down at her with utter contempt, "I'm a man of my word."

Harley's face burst into tears, and she slowly got up and looked pitifully at the floor. "Look at me." He said, but she continued sniffling and staring at the floor. "_LOOK AT ME_!" Harley sharply looked up. It was as though all of the demons in his soul had erupted and roared at her. The voice was unlike anything she had ever heard. "Stay away from me, and from her." She nodded and stumbled out of his apartment.

Walking down the stairs, Harley was bruised and heartbroken. She wished she could turn off her feelings for Jack, but it wasn't that easy. He was everything that she had ever wanted. He was smart, gorgeous and not to mention powerfully dangerous. Harley loved a man who was the alpha of the pack, and she saw Jack had that potential. Her mind focussed on Georgiana and her thoughts instantly soured, _That brainless slut, she just flutters her eyelashes at him and he comes running. _If only she could get rid of her, she knew if she was out of the way, Jack would be hers. They had been so close to it happening, but all he thought of now was the _rich bitch_. She knew something had happened tonight between them, and a dead body had been the result. _Time to do some investigating Harley._

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"Wow, nice place!" Blake had escorted Georgiana to her door this time; she smiled at him as she opened the entrance and walked inside.

"Oh, hello daddy." Her father was in the hallway, staring hard at Georgiana. He was incredibly annoyed by her lateness in coming home; he didn't want her giving Freddie the wrong impression that she wasn't marriage material.

"Georgiana, where the..." he stopped abruptly when he saw the young police officer standing in the doorway behind his daughter. "What's going on?"

"I'm Officer Blake, Mr. Quinn. I took the liberty of bringing your daughter home. She's had a rough night I'm afraid." Hugo stared at Blake, but quickly wore the disguise of a concerned father. He raised his hand to Georgiana's shoulder and she couldn't help but flinch, which Blake quietly noticed. "Georgie, are you all right? What happened? Let's go sit down."

"Mr Quinn, your daughter witnessed the kidnapping of Frederick Lawrence." Blake stated. He didn't like her father, call it his policeman's intuition, but he thought the guy was a phoney. Hugo halted, and turned to Blake. "What?" He asked in a low voice.

"A man came to the restaurant and kidnapped him. That's all I'm able to tell you at the moment, but I may be back soon to ask you both more questions if required. I'll leave you to fill your dad in Miss Quinn."

"Please, it's Georgiana." She looked up at him.

"OK, well goodnight Mr Quinn...Georgiana." He touched his cap and left them alone. In his car, he sat there thinking all the way back to the station that something wasn't quite right between the father and daughter.

Back in the entrance hall, Hugo gawked at his daughter. "What the hell happened, Georgiana?" She ignored him and tried to walk past him, but he caught her arm, "Tell me immediately young lady." His grip was tense and his eyes were wild with confusion

She bit his arm hard, and he yelped in surprise. He slapped her, but she stood her ground. She slapped him back. He couldn't believe it, she never_ ever_ fought back. The red mark on his face started to hum and throb as she came up close to him, "Wouldn't you like to know." She finally walked past him, and left her father shaking in the hallway.


	18. Chapter 18

Thank you for your reviews and faves! YAAAAAY! And, here...we...go!

Disclaimer: I pinky promise I don't own nothin' of DC / Chris Nolan. Just original characters.

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**Chapter 18**

Georgiana's hand emerged from under the duvet and clasped the phone on her bedside table. She gingerly sat up, trying to hold the sick feeling at bay while she flicked through her address book on her bedside table. Her head was swimming and Georgiana felt the vomit start to rise, she had to steel herself as she picked up the phone and dialled a number.

Her eyes were narrowed as they focussed on the half opened window that was opposite her bed, listening to the '_bring bring'_ on the other end of the phone.

"Good morning, Lennox Medical Centre. How can I help you today?"

Georgiana snapped out of her daze, "Oh, yes, hello. Could I make an appointment to see Dr. Malik today please? It's an emergency...it's Georgiana Quinn and...it's an emergency." She was immensely pleased at having managed to get the words out without throwing up on the phone.

Once the appointment was made she hung up the phone and lay back down, which was a mistake. _Uh oh here it comes..._Georgiana scrambled over the bed and made a beeline for her ensuite, and did what she had to do.

_I can't take this anymore, _she thought to herself miserably as she clutched her new best friend, the toilet bowl.

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"Aw shit", Harley muttered out loud as she poked her burnt toast. She was still devastatingly upset after last night, and her morning hadn't got off to a flying start either. One of Falcone's henchmen had called her up earlier, and ordered her to go and retrieve a message from Hugo Quinn this afternoon, from his office uptown. Basically, this was code for "go and get the money from Quinn, and don't you even think about coming back without it." They would make her do this kind of job all the time, going and picking up 'messages' from 'associates' because she was much more inconspicuous than a hulking great goon...and she could also be quite _persuasive_ at times.

Harley picked up the plate with her toast on it and flung it at the wall. The plate smashed into several small pieces and her toast plopped onto the floor. She went over and stomped on the toast for good measure before twisting around to turn on her TV. She took her seat on a battered armchair that had stuffing popping out in different places, with her leg dangling over the arm. Harley flicked through the channels, her eyes blinking rapidly as she took in the neon glow from the screen.

She landed on the news when something caught her eye.

"_**...police are still searching for Frederick Lawrence, the son of Gotham Senator Richard Lawrence, after he went missing last night from trendy hot spot Mizu."**_

Harley's ears pricked up when she heard the name.

"**Eyewitnesses report that Frederick was enjoying a meal with his girlfriend, before an unidentified male started a fight with him in the restaurant. The pair caused huge amounts of damage because of the brawl, and then ran out of the fire door with Frederick's girlfriend in tow."**

Harley exploded into hysterical fits of laughter, effectively drowning out the rest of what the newscaster had to say. She was laughing so hard her stomach was hurting; she slowly slid onto the floor and tears of pure happiness leaked from her eyes. Harley's laughter crescendoed and she began to hiccup. _You are making this too easy. it's almost unfair you stupid, STUPID fucks! _Harley grinned to herself and wiped the moisture from her face before hauling herself up from the floor. She went to go and get ready for her big day ahead, while periodically laughing as she pottered about. _Well, this has put a fucking spring in my step and no mistake._

##################################################################################

Georgiana nimbly got out of the car and walked up to the Lawrence's front door. She was absolutely dreading this moment, but she knew she had to bite the bullet and get it over with. She knocked on the door three times and waited for an answer.

A youngish, mousey looking maid opened the door and smiled shyly at Georgiana. "Hello...is Charlotte at home please?" The maid nodded and let her in the house. Georgiana felt chills ripple up and down her spine as soon as she crossed over the threshold. _Somebody walking over my grave, _she thought before she could stop herself. The maid had led her into the lavish living room while she went to search for Charlotte. Georgiana was frightened at what her friend's reaction would be, there was no great love lost between Charlotte and Freddie, however they were brother and sister. _Yes_, _but look at you and your own father..._

"Georgie, am I glad to see you!" Charlotte ran over and hugged the breath out of Georgiana. "I'm so glad you're OK, you're not hurt are you?" Georgiana just stared into her best friends trusting blue eyes and was lost for words. Her bravery crumbled and floods of tears spilled down her face.

"Shusssh, it's OK Georgie, you're safe now." Charlotte manoeuvred them to the sofa and sat Georgiana down, stroking her soft hair in a comforting manner.

"Oh God, Charlotte. How can you not know?" Georgiana leant forward into her hands to shield her face.

"Georgie, I don't _blame_ you. Don't you remember, you're my family. Freddie...Freddie deserved whatever he got." She said the last part so quietly that Georgiana almost struggled to hear her. "Maybe now, you can tell me what's going on though?"

Georgiana's flushed face came up from her hands, "Freddie was forcing me to go out with him...he'd tried to rape me at the Arkham Benefit." Her voice was choked as she saw the pain fly over Charlotte's face, "And...you know the guy from the bank?" Georgiana's eyes flickered over to her friend with trepidation.

"I'm guessing I was right about you knowing him, huh?"

Georgiana nodded, "He tried to help me and they got into a fight...but...but Freddie was going to kill him! "

Charlotte wiped her hand over her eyes and sighed, "Do you know where Freddie's body is?"

"The bank guy took it...and got _rid _of it..." She said through her clenched teeth and tears. All Charlotte did was nod gently.

"Georgie, no one but me knows about this, right?" Georgiana nodded and croaked out, "...and Jack."

"That his name, Jack?" Charlotte ruefully smiled, "I think the best thing for you to do is go home and get some rest, and please try and stay out your dad's way. God knows he'll make your life even more hellish than before if he finds out." Georgiana sniffed and looked sideways at her friend, and tried to smile.

"Thank you Charlotte, I don't deserve you."

"Yes you do Georgie." Charlotte got up and offered her hand to Georgiana, "Let's get you home."

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Harley had turned up at the bar with the green light; she knew at this time of the morning that some of Falcone's men would be here waiting for orders. Harley knew that Jack would probably be here as well, playing game after game of poker and usually winning. She badly wanted to see Jack, and with this information buzzing inside of her head, it was somewhat orgasmic for her. He would see that the Quinn whore was just a pain in the ass, barely worth the trouble he would be in if Falcone found out what he had done for her, and that Harley was the _right _one for him.

She entered the bar and saw the guys all huddled round a table, holding their cards and throwing cheery insults at one other. Her eyes though were focussed on one person – Jack.

"Hey Joey, you gonna place a bet or do I have to cancel my gangbang with ya ma?"

"Fuck you _guys_!"

"Funny, that's what she said!" A huge chorus of raucous laughter erupted as Joey scowled at them all.

"Hello boys." Harley purred as she sauntered up to the table. Jack's face was empty of all expression as he watched her walk up to them, but inside...he wanted to rip her head off. _Tricky, tricky, _he thought to himself as Harley tried to stare longingly as him. He merely snorted and leant back on his chair.

The rest of the guys eyed her with caution as she made her approach, and if each one of them were honest with themselves - she unnerved them. They thought she was definitely hot, but the crazy factor was a huge turnoff for them. Also they had seen how _clingy_ she was with Jack, and he wasn't even interested in her.

"Hi Harley, how's it goin'" Joey asked as he couldn't really take the tension any more. Even though he was huge and had a predilection for violence, he was also a bit of a momma's boy.

"Oh my, everything is just _fine _with me, thanks Joey." She smirked at Jack and he rolled his eyes. "Hey Jack, you hear the news this morning?"

Jack stared right back at her with a manic grin on his face, and said nothing. The guys all looked at him and waited for his response, but none came. He just sat there smiling his gruesome smile. The room was so silent you could have heard a tiny pin drop. Finally he got up, and walked slowly up to Harley, who was feeling a little less brave than before.

"No, I don't have a TV _Harleeeey_. Is there something you want to...share?" Jack started to walk around Harley in a circle, sizing her up. "Well_, go on_." His voice took on a darkened tone to it as he ended up behind her. She spun round to face him and Harley saw the cold depths that shimmered out of his eyes. _Fuck. _

She put on her war face, and stood close to him. "I think you should go and watch some news Jack. The world's a big place and you _need _to know what's going on..."

Jack gave a spastic laugh, and then abruptly head butted her. Harley crumpled to the floor as the other guys hooted with laughter. He stepped over her and went back to his game like nothing had happened. The guys just looked disdainfully at Harley; they were much more loyal to Jack than they ever would be to her, and so they turned their backs, leaving Harley to rise up slowly with blood dripping from her nose.

"Harley, that's a good look for you!" Jack said joyfully, making the men around the table snigger under their breath. Harley wiped her nose on her sleeve, leaving a trail of bright red blood. She swiftly turned and walked out of the room, her vision blurred by the threat of tears. "Don't be a stranger Harleeeeey!" she heard Jack yell in the background. Harley shuddered as the bitterness coursed through her; she was far from giving up though. _I'll show them. I'll show them all. _

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Georgiana found herself staring intently at what Dr. Malik's was doing. The doctor was holding a dipstick into a pot of Georgiana's pee, humming softly to herself. She removed it and inspected the stick. Then clucking her tongue, she asked, "Are you sexually active Georgiana."

She blushed profusely as she answered, "Yes, for a little while now." Remembering the last time she and Jack had sex made Georgiana feel very _warm_.

"Mmmm. Well there's no infection you'll be glad to hear. But I might suggest we do a quick pregnancy test, just to be on the safe side. I've got a couple of kits here..." The doctor was speaking so calmly, but Georgiana's heart actually stopped beating. _PREGNANCY TEST! What the HELL? _

"Go to reception and get yourself another glass of water," The doctor gave a merry laugh, "and go into the bathroom and have a quick tinkle on this pregnancy test." Georgiana just gaped wide eyed at the doctor. "Sure."

Once the deed was done, Georgiana came back to Dr. Malick's office and offered her the stick.

"Georgiana, according to this...I'm afraid you're pregnant."

A silence exploded into the room, until Georgiana uttered the words, "Shut the fuck up." She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth, but the doctor was quick to reassure her.

"Please Georgiana, don't worry. I can tell you, I've heard much worse." The doctor smiled, "But anyway, I'm going to take a sample of your blood to double check that the test is correct and to see if there are any abnormalities. The results can take a couple of days to come through though. I hope that's OK?" The doctor looked sadly back at her and sighed. "I know you feel that this is the end of the world, but you do have..._options." _

Georgiana was looking at the doctors very prim shoes as she took a sample of her blood. She had to focus on something or she felt she may pass out otherwise. "Georgiana, maybe we can have another chat when your test results come in, OK? But in the meantime, take care of yourself."

Georgiana nodded dumbly, and whispered, "Yes doctor. I'm sorry for swearing at you." Dr. Malik brushed it off, "I'll call you soon."

_Oh my God. _Georgiana made her way out of the clinic in a daze. _Wow. Daddy's going to be thrilled..._she let out an unhappy laugh at the thought. _What is Jack going to say? He'll probably say to get rid of it..._Even as she conjured up that thought, she didn't really believe in her heart that he would want that. Maybe if it had happened with someone else he would, but not with her.

_##################################################################################_

Harley had headed over to the Quinn Corporation offices, once she had cleaned herself up from her earlier clash with Jack. She walked past the receptionists, who were all over her in seconds.

"And where may I ask are you going?" Prissy receptionist number one barked.

"I have an appointment with Mr Quinn, check your diary lady. 2pm, Falcon Ltd." Harley sneered at the woman as she stuck her nose into her computer to check today's schedule.

"Miss...Harleen...and no surname?" she squinted at Harley.

"Yeah, I'm like _Cher. _Now come on, time is money._" _She tapped her watch. The receptionist scowled back at her.

"Top floor, I'll announce your arrival."

"Gee whizz_, thanks_." Harley made a mental note to herself to find out where her car was parked and do unspeakable damage to it.

Harley made it to the top floor and walked over to Hugo Quinn who was waiting for her by the elevator. Hugo looked at Harley with complete disinterest and beckoned her to follow him to his office.

Once inside, Harley flopped on one of the leather chairs and asked outright, "You got the money?"

"I owe him nothing. Go back and tell your boss that." He calmly stated. Hugo sat across from Harley, making a little bridge with his fingertips. Harley got up and sat on the edge of his desk, swinging her legs like a child. "Look Mr Quinn, I can't go back without the money. Do you know what'll happen if I do that?"

"Do I look like I care?" Harley's face hardened.

"No, you people don't care about anyone outside of your social radar, _do you_? " Harley got up and started to walk towards the door, "Shame the same can't be said for your daughter."

That got his attention, "Wait, what?" he rumbled. Harley turned and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Well, your daughter sure has all the time in the world for people like me, someone in _particular, _actually." She wiped her finger on the edge of his desk and coyly looked up at him, "you can't _tear _them away from each other." She smiled into his face, a dark smile that he wanted to rip off and shove down her throat.

"If you give me the money, I'll tell you his name." She said with a voice like honey. Hugo rose from his chair and knelt by his safe. He entered the combination quickly and took out a wad of cash, and bunged it in a brown envelope. He handed it over to Harley, but as she reached out to take it, he gripped her wrist painfully.

"What is his name?" He could barely speak he was so angry.

Harley locked onto his eyes, "The money first." Hugo clung on, but eventually let her go. She took the money from him, and frowned. "Go ask your _fucking _daughter." She ran out of the room as fast as she could, as Hugo swung for her. She looked round to see if he was following her, but saw he wasn't. She took the fire escape stairs just in case, it was less noticeable than her racing down in an elevator.

_These Quinn's are so fucking dumb...no way in hell I'd betray Jack. Let him fight it out with his daughter._

She whistled a happy little tune as she made her way down the stairs. Feeling a tad braver, she entered the main building on the 40th floor and took the elevator all the way down to the ground floor.


	19. Chapter 19

I just wanted to say a big thank you to FranLucyLucci, gymnstgrl, The Burlesque Mistress.92, gaara's-baby-gurl17, MidnightGypsie, SaxonBandwagon, Trunksymia, PowerBaby and Batsarecool – thank you so much for taking the time to write a review! :)

**I have now changed the rating of the story to 'M' because I do occasionally have *cough cough COUGH!* in some of the chapters...so if you feel a bit funny reading about *waggles eyebrows* please be aware that there is some of that in this chapter. Maybe you could put your hand over that section of the story? Or wear an eye patch? I'm not sure where I'm going with this...**

Another song for the playlist, Muse - Undisclosed Desires. Link is on my profile!

#I want to reconcile the violence in your heart#

Disclaimer: I pinky promise I don't own nothin' of DC / Chris Nolan. Just original characters.

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**Chapter 19**

His body shook with tremors of rage as he stood there in the middle of his office. He had never felt such a feverish anger as he did in that moment when he'd tried to hit Falcone's messenger, but now she had fled the room and he had no one to take his shock out on. The girl couldn't have been lying, what would she have to gain from being untruthful about his daughter? What shocked him the most was how true it _did_ seem. Georgiana's sudden mood swings, her new found confidence and her guarded protectiveness of her privacy were all relatively recent occurrences, and now Hugo Quinn knew why; she had an unsuitable..._friend_.

Hugo had to act, and he had to act quickly. This would not be tolerated; hell would freeze over before he let his daughter ruin everything that his family had ruthlessly built up from scratch. Their wealth, estate and name would not be sullied by his daughter's idiotic actions. Hugo's handsome face set to stone as he knew he had to stop his daughter from behaving so badly, in his eyes at least.

He walked back to his mahogany cabinet where he kept his liquor, and went to pour himself a whisky, when suddenly a cold wind blew down his spine. He stood there like a statue, glass raised and whisky bottle almost tipped as the realisation hit him like a wall of water. The glass slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor, cracking the crystal into icy pieces. The words kept going round and round his head until he couldn't take it anymore: _Georgiana had something to do with Freddie's disappearance._

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The window in Georgiana's bedroom shifted upwards smoothly and Jack climbed through it stealthily, landing his black boot gently on the floor. He straightened up and glancing behind him he saw that Georgiana was sound asleep on top of the covers in the large four poster bed. Jack softly walked up beside the bed and knelt down, raising his hand to brush a few tendrils of her red hair that had fallen into her eyes. She stirred at the new sensation she felt, and slowly opened her large green eyes. "Were you asleep Princess? Could have fooled me." He grinned at her and his long fingers played with her hair. Georgiana sleepily smiled back up at him as she came round. Georgiana's eyes flickered to his neck, and she remembered how much she liked to put her head in the nook of it and breathe in his scent deeply. It was as if she was trying to store the memory of the smell in a little box in her mind, so she could take it out at times when he wasn't there and remember what his distinctive fragrance was. It always reminded her of bergamot and maybe even a little of leather.

His head came into her vision and he whispered, "If I take off my boots this time, can I join you in there?" Georgiana snorted slightly with laughter as she remembered how she had gotten cross at him when he had tried to lie down next to her one time, without taking his boots off. As if an automatic trigger had gone off in her head, she had squealed at him, and then promptly pushed him off the bed. Jack had been completely taken off guard, but couldn't stop laughing at what she had done.

"OK, but shoes _off." _He fist pumped the air when she said that and proceeded to dump his boots on the floor, and then dove on top of the sheets. He gathered her up in his arms and started to kiss her very slowly on her neck, gradually working his way up to her mouth. "I've been waiting all day for this." He whispered into her mouth huskily. Georgiana arched her back and pushed her body further into him, as she placed her arms around his neck. She was trying to be brave, she really was, but she couldn't find the words to tell him about the little life they had created which was now growing in her belly. So, she just kissed him back. Jack responded fiercely and caught the back of her head in his hand. He used the other hand to slowly unbutton her shirt, all the way down, and she felt his rough fingers wandering over her uncovered flesh. Jack's hand went to the back of her bra and he unclasped it with a skilled hand and released her breasts from it. Her skin was cool to touch, but Jack was always so hot; it gave her goose bumps as his warm hand slid up to her breast and started to tease her nipple. Georgiana moved forward slightly to remove her shirt and bra and lay back down. Jack came down on her again, and she felt her nipples brush against the fabric of his t-shirt which instantly caused ripples of delight to shimmy down to her groin. He continued to kiss her, their tongues licking against each other as his hand moved down to undo her jeans. Jack broke away momentarily to allow her to remove her jeans, but he flipped her over before she could remove her underwear. Instead, he removed them agonisingly slowly as he watched the black fabric rub softly against her pale skin. When they were off, Jack straddled her legs and lowered himself down to her rear, and kissed and bit it with a force that made Georgiana gasp with pleasure. He moved further south, and picked her up by the waist so she was on all fours. Jack went to lie on his back under her, and pushed her womanhood onto his mouth. Georgiana could barely contain herself as she effectively sat on his face, while he licked and sucked her engorged little clit.

Georgiana felt the telltale signs that she was about to come, the tickling warmth building up in her lower parts grew too much and she came hard. Moaning as her mind went blissfully blank as the orgasm swept over her, Georgiana had to hold herself up by clamping onto one of the bed posts. Jack took the opportunity to get up and undressed as Georgiana composed herself; but he quickly came up behind her, and bent her down again, raising her ass towards him. Gripping her hips, he positioned himself at her entrance and pushed himself inside. Georgiana groaned as she felt his large member move in and out of her, the inner walls pulsating around him making him growl as his thrust grew in speed. He bent down over her, and moved his hand to roughly squeeze her breast which made Georgiana tingle. She didn't know why, but she _liked _it when he was a little rough. Jack continually pumped into her, and when he found her sweet spot, he was unmerciful in his quest to make her come again. He straightened up and his hand went to her clitoris, rapidly rubbing it with his hardened fingertips. Jack was grunting as he pounded her and Georgiana couldn't hold out any longer, she came violently and her head buried itself into her sheets to drown out her cry. As Jack listened to her sexy moan, he felt himself release his seed inside of her, and Georgiana felt the warmth carry its way up to her womb.

Georgiana collapsed and Jack removed himself from her. He kissed the back of her head and made his way to the ensuite bathroom. _Well, how do I tell him now? _Georgiana rolled her eyes as she thought to herself. She heard the toilet flush and the tap run, _you need to tell him, do it now..._

Jack entered the bedroom again and went to lay on the bed, but Georgiana sat up quickly. Jack looked quizzically at her, "I really did take off my shoes..." he said with his eyebrows raised. Georgiana looked up at him and smiled "Will you stop talking about your shoes for five minutes?" Jack smirked and got under the sheets, laying on his side facing Georgiana. He brushed her bare thigh with his hand, and watched how her skin got all goosebumpy at the touch. He smiled to himself and enjoyed the effect he had on her.

"Jack? I'm not sure how to even begin to tell you..." when she spoke those words, his heart lurched ever so slightly, but his voice didn't betray his nervousness. "What is it?" he asked sombrely.

"I'm...oh God...I'm pregnant." Georgiana winced as she braced herself for the barrage of disgust she thought was heading her way. Jack was just silent, and he wasn't sure if he had heard her properly. Jack looked up at her and frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive." Georgiana was so anxious, she expected him to get up and either hurl insults or run away from her, but all he did was look a little bemused. "I'm sorry, I wasn't on anything..."

Jack shook his head and continued to stroke her leg, "Princess, you haven't got anything to be sorry about. I should have known, you're not exactly, uh...and no disrespect, _experienced." _

Georgiana held her hands up to her face and covered her eyes, "What should we do?"

"Other than get you on some _strong _birth control? What do you want to do?"

"Are you angry?" She asked innocently. Jack sadly grinned at her and shook his head, "I'm kinda shocked, but no, I'm not angry... Georgiana, what would _you_ like to do?" She had never really heard him call her by her first name, it was always 'Princess' this and 'Princess' that...the last time he did was when she had first met him, but boy did it give her little butterflies in her stomach.

"I don't know, I'm not sure how I can keep it? My dad would literally kill me..." Jack felt an unexpected stab of unhappiness at her saying that she may not keep the baby, but he could see why she couldn't. If he were honest with himself, he didn't understand his ridiculously relaxed reaction. He should have been spewing, but he simply didn't feel like that. But he was a realist and he did know there was no way she could keep it...she was 17 and he had just turned 18; she would have to live with him in his cramped little flat, which he didn't want to impose on her. He was on his way to making serious money with Falcone, but he wasn't quite there yet. The plan that had been stewing in his mind had been to make the _real_ dough, buy a big place and then move Georgiana in with him. But unfortunately he just wasn't at that stage yet.

Jack sighed, moving his hand over her exposed belly, "Your _daddy _would have to get through me first."

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Hugo was still at the office but he decided to make a phone call despite the lateness of the hour. He knew the person he wanted to call would still be up and at work. Hugo dialled the number and waited for a few moments before he heard a thin, nasally voice on the other end.

"Dr. Jeremiah Arkham."

"Hello doctor, this is Hugo Quinn." Hugo was cut off as the doctor burst into a enthusiastic lecture, however Hugo managed to get a word inbetween the tiny breaths the doctor took, "...well it was a pleasure! I'm glad the money went to the new research equipment." Hugo licked his bottom lip and carried on talking. "Jeremiah, I'm afraid I'm calling about something..._someone..._very dear to my heart." He leant forward on his desk and fixed his gaze on the bookshelf on the opposite wall.

"My daughter, you see...I truly believe she could benefit from some of your medical expertise at your fine institution. She has been _suffering_ lately, what with Freddie's kidnapping, and I fear it has taken a toll on her mental state."

Hugo stopped as Arkham broke in with reassuring words, whilst Hugo hmmmed and ahhhed in agreement as the doctor spoke.

"Yes I do think it would do her the world of good if Georgiana were to receive care at Arkham. Until, of course, she has returned to a fit state of mind. I'll talk to her tomorrow and then we can make the arrangements, thank you doctor."

The phone made a curt little 'click' noise when Arkham hung up at his end. Hugo put the receiver down gently and made his way out of the office, collecting his briefcase as he left. When he reached the ground floor, he could see out of the large glass doors that his car was waiting for him. Hugo glided into the back seat of the sleek black Jaguar, and he watched the world pass by as the driver took him home.

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"I can't stay Princess; Falcone wants us all for this...job tonight." Jack rolled his eyes and flicked his hand into the air. "It's some bullshit gig but if I don't turn up...well you don't wanna know." Jack started to put his clothes on and found himself looking at Georgiana. She looked so sleepy and warm, and _inviting_, but he had to leave now otherwise he wouldn't make the rendezvous point in time. He grunted his annoyance and Georgiana glanced up "Do you want to leave by the front door tonight? He's probably not home, and even if he is, he won't hear us if we're quiet."

Jack mulled over the offer, and against his better judgement he agreed. Georgiana threw on her nightwear which consisted of a pale pink t shirt and small black shorts with pink polka dots. This summer heat was unbearable for her and she rarely wore her long trouser PJs.

Jack followed her out of her room and they walked down the grand staircase, "So this is what the rest of the house looks like, huh?" he smirked. They reached the bottom of the stairs together and turned to face each other. Georgiana raised her hand to brush Jack's cheek with the back of her hand, but unfortunately for them, the moment was broken by the opening sounds of the front door. Jack whipped his head towards the sound, but instead of running, his feet were rooted to the spot. He bent his head down slightly and his hair hung like shards in front of his blackened eyes. An evil smile spread over his face as he spoke deeply, "Evening _Hugo." _


	20. Chapter 20

Thanks to Lutricity and gymnstgrl for your reviews on the last chapter! :D It means a whole lot when you guys leave me reviews and feedback! Thank you so much! :D

Disclaimer: blah blah DC / Chris Nolan. Blah blah original characters.

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**Chapter 20**

Time had stopped in the hallway as Hugo stared at his daughter, who was _barely _clothed, standing intimately with someone he didn't know. His throat constricted as his eyes flicked over to the stranger in his home, although he felt he did recognise his face from somewhere. Thoughts of Falcone bubbled in his mind as Hugo remembered where he had seen this unusual boy.

"You know _my _name, but we haven't been introduced. Who are you?" Hugo's voice was polite but clearly held an underlying tone of unleashed fury. He moved forward towards the pair, but Georgiana stepped in front of Jack protectively.

"He was just leaving. You don't have to make a scene, so just let him be on his way." Georgiana growled at her father.

"Don't make a scene, you say." Hugo's eyes were still locked on Jack's, but he continued to speak calmly, "I come home and find my daughter is behaving like a common slut..."

Georgiana couldn't contain herself as she erupted, the truth bursting from her like the walls of a dam breaking. "How dare you. How fucking _dare _you. You, the most hideous person that I have the misfortune of calling 'father', how can you stand there and judge_ me_?" Georgiana's anger rose as she spat more heated words at Hugo, "I am no liar like you...if I were, I would say that I loved you. You have earned nothing from me; no respect, no loyalty, no _love..._ all those times I longed for a smile from you...you are _nothing _to me." Hugo's face was hard, but he said nothing. Georgiana's voice grew weary as she looked blankly into thin air, "I would have loved you, but I think it's too late."

A sharp _flick _suddenly pierced the air as Jack causally walked up to Hugo.

"Come on now Hugo, no common _slutting _has happened here tonight." Jack was almost the same height as Hugo, save for an inch. "You know what," Jack continued to speak jovially while waving his switchblade around, "... you remind me of my father..." his face shadowed as his words came out roughly "..._I hated my father." _He quickly grabbed Hugo's face and placed the knife to the corner of his mouth. Hugo was helpless as he stared into the black voids that were Jack's eyes; pools of nothingness stared back at Hugo, and for the first moment in a very long time, Hugo was _frightened._

Georgiana walked up closer so she could memorise the fear on her father's face. Hugo's eyes glanced over Jack's shoulder at his daughter who was watching with an admiring smile. He couldn't believe at how Georgiana was behaving, but his thoughts were interrupted as he tasted the metallic tang that had now entered his mouth. Jack was slowly pushing the knife deeper into his mouth, whilst closely analysing his minute reactions; imperceptible to anyone but _him. _Jack loved this part, watching how people's fear led them to act out so many little emotions, when they thought the end was imminent. Hugo could almost feel Jack shiver with delight. Hugo tried to speak, but couldn't quite manage it without forcing the blade deeper. Jack put his ear closer to Hugo's mouth, "Hmm? What was that _Hugo? _You wanna say something?_"_

"Let him speak...this should be good." Georgiana spoke up as she circled the two men. Jack slowly removed the knife from Hugo's mouth and stepped back, watching as the sliver of blood dribbled down his jaw. Hugo coughed and smoothed down his ruffled appearance, as he watched Georgiana and Jack stand opposite him, in what seemed like a pincer manoeuvre.

"Could I have a word with you, young man? Alone, preferably." Hugo glanced at Georgiana and tried to hide his disgust. She just smiled back at him.

"Well of course, Hugo! Lead the way!" Georgiana went to sit on the chair that was positioned by an elegant chest of drawers. She watched her father lead Jack back upstairs and she closed her eyes, willing the anger to seep through her pores.

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Hugo took his place behind his desk, as Jack kept smiling at him in the most maddeningly _friendly _way. Hugo silently began opening his desk drawers, searching for something. Jack was standing after refusing to take a seat, and watched closely as Hugo found what he was looking for; his chequebook.

"Ooh I think I will take a seat after all!" Jack flopped into the chair opposite and got himself comfortable, "Nice and soft, good taste you got there Hugo." And promptly winked at him, making Hugo's teeth stand on edge.

"How much?" Hugo demanded abruptly.

"How much what, Hugo?" Jack looked comically confused; trying to bait Hugo, and doing an exceedingly good job of it.

"10,000?" Jack drew his eyebrows together. "No?" Hugo was bemused, maybe this boy was holding out for more, he heaved a sigh, "50,000. That's my final offer."

Jack clapped his hands, "Oh boy, Hugo – you sure got me! " Hugo smiled slightly as he wrote the cheque out, "who should I make it out to?"

"Oh, I'll fill that in later...don't worry." Hugo huffed and handed the cheque over to Jack, who proceeded to twiddle the cheque around in his fingers. Hugo was waiting impatiently for him to speak. He started to tap his fingers in a bored fashion until Jack looked up swiftly and bore down into his eyes. The dark look made Hugo catch his breath, as he watched Jack tear up the cheque slowly into tiny little pieces. He threw the paper pieces into the air above his head like a mini tickertape parade, never breaking the hold he had on Hugo. Jack's spoke his next words in a voice so deep and quiet, Hugo could have sworn it was another person talking, "I'll be seeing you soon, _Hugo_."

Jack hoisted himself out of the chair and left Hugo alone, very much alone.

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Georgiana had managed to avoid her father the next morning, but she had her plans of escape forming quickly inside her head. Georgiana was going to get out of there; her father's control over her was irreparably demolished and last night had been the final string that snapped in their relationship. There was no way in _hell _she would remain under the same roof as that man, that _monster_. She was packing her things up when she heard the booming 'knock knock' at the front door. She stopped when she heard the voices coming towards her door; there was a gentle knock at her door before she saw it open. A thin, tired looking man in a white coat and horn rimmed glasses entered with two strapping men, in white orderly uniforms, following him.

"Hello Georgiana, I'm Dr. Jeremiah Arkham." He spoke in what he thought was a comforting way, but Georgiana just thought he was a patronising twerp.

"Why are you in my room?" she blurted out.

"We're here to help you, we know you've been through such a lot recently..." the doctor stopped as Georgiana started to laugh.

"Are you fucking kidding me? He's having me _committed_ to the loony bin?" She shook her head in disbelief, "Where is the sick son of a bitch? I'm surprised he's not here to watch the fun and games?"

Dr. Arkham cleared his voice in embarrassment, "Your father is thinking only of your best interests. He –" He stopped again as Georgiana laughed in his face; she was bordering on hysteria and Arkham looked on in alarm.

"We better just get her in the ambulance, Samson..." He pointed in Georgiana's direction, and the larger of the two orderlies tried to grab her, but she spat in his face. Samson snarled at her, and the other orderly joined in the attempt to restrain her. She lashed out, kicked, bit, punched, but to no avail. They had her pinned to the floor, and she saw Dr. Arkham come forward with a syringe.

"DON'T come near me you bastard!" The doctor knelt down beside her.

"Don't worry Georgiana, it's just a mild sedative to help your nerves." He rammed the syringe into her neck, making her hiss at him. The effects came quickly as she felt her muscles relax, her eye lids growing heavy and the blackness washed over her.

Once she was out cold, Samson scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the house in a bridal style. Her arms and head dangled lifelessly as they made their way to the ambulance, and Arkham watched the orderly put her in a straight jacket, and then strap her to a stretcher. "Such a shame." He murmured to himself quietly as he slid into the front passenger seat. The other orderly got in to drive, "Oh well George, we should make good time on the freeway now at least." George silently nodded his large head and started the ambulance up.

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Officer John Blake drove through the streets of Gotham , heading uptown to pay a visit to Quinn Corporation. He looked into his rear view mirror and his honest brown eyes in his tanned face stared back at him. The night that he took Georgiana home still hung around his neck like a dead weight. Blake was honestly worried for her safety, but he also had some unanswered questions about Freddie's disappearance that he needed to ask Hugo.

Blake pulled up outside of the massive office building, and walked towards the reception desk. He took off his cap as he spoke to the first receptionist, who looked softly up at the dark haired cop. She smiled coyly at him and said, "Good morning Officer. How can I help you?"

He flashed his badge, "I need to speak to Hugo Quinn please; can you tell me which floor he's on?"

"Oh, he's on the top floor, can I take your name...and number?" Blake blinked at the receptionist.

"I'm Officer John Blake, and why do you need my number?"

"Oh it's policy to ask now, but you don't have to give it...unless you want to." She fluttered her eyelashes at him and Blake began to feel uneasy.

"Uh, it's OK...I'll just be heading up...now." He moved away sharply, only to hear the other receptionist scolding in the background, "You and cops, Betty! Honestly, you need therapy!"

Blake headed up in the elevator, and reached the top floor. He stepped out and looked down the hallway, there were only a couple of rooms that he could see, but he walked down slowly until he saw the name 'Hugo Quinn' engraved in a golden plaque on the door. He rapped the door with his knuckles, and heard a strong voice telling him to come in.

Hugo's head looked up as Blake entered the room, "Officer Blake, what an unexpected surprise." He smiled his charming smile and stood up, "Please sit down. Can I get you a drink?"

"It's a little early for a drink isn't it, besides I can't – I'm on duty." He warily answered.

"Of course, of course." Hugo sat back down, and Blake copied him. "What can I do for you Officer Blake? Any news on Freddie's kidnappers?"

"It's the oddest kidnapping I've ever come across, Mr. Quinn. No ransom notes have been seen, in fact there has been no communication from these _kidnappers, _which is strange, don't you think? Where were you on the night of Frederick Lawrence's disappearance?

"I was in the office, working late. You can check our security videos if you like?" Hugo smiled genially at the young officer.

"Thank you Mr Quinn...do you know of anyone that could possibly want to do this, perhaps as a way of getting back at Senator Lawrence?"

"No, I can't say that I do. The Senator is a fine, upstanding citizen of Gotham." Blake levelled a stare at him, and he sat forward in his chair.

"Are you withholding _any _information that could pervert the course of this investigation?"

Hugo held Blake's gaze and simply replied "No." Blake stared at him. He knew, he just _knew _this bastard was hiding something. But he had nothing. No body. No ransom note. No weapons. Nothing.

Blake breathed out slowly through his nose, "Is your daughter at home, Mr. Quinn. I would like to ask her some questions too."

A flash of panic appeared on his face, but it evaporated quickly. "I'm afraid she's...indisposed."

Blake narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean, _indisposed?' _he snapped at him.

"She's been hospitalized...so she is in no state to answer questions." Hugo averted his gaze to his desk. "Is that all Officer? I have a very full schedule today..."

"Which hospital is she in?" Blake was undeterred.

Hugo licked his lips nervously; he couldn't risk lying to this annoying cop; "She's been taken to...Arkham. For her own good, you see" He added the last part quickly.

Blake's jaw hit the floor. This _man _had committed his own daughter to an insane asylum, his very sane, very coherent daughter. Blake composed himself and cleared his throat, "When we last met, she seemed in good health. How could someone like that with no appearance of mental health issues suddenly be admitted to Arkham?" Blake had to restrain himself from slugging the guy.

Hugo looked at him with a cold disdain, "Officer Blake, you do not know what goes on in a daughter's head like her father. If I were you, I would leave my family affairs alone and let Georgiana _recover."_

Blake looked at him in disgust, "I think Mr. Quinn...she's safer in Arkham, than with _you." _Blake stood up and left without saying goodbye.

Hugo leant back in his chair and tapped his finger to his lips. The intrusive officer didn't bother him as much as the thought of that _psycho _finding out about Georgiana's incarceration did. No doubt, he would slit Hugo's throat without a moment's hesitation. Hugo felt a shudder down his spine and he gripped the phone. He picked it up and dialled.

"Hi, it's me. Can you meet me at the docks in an hour? Pier 14, usual place...good." Hugo hung up the phone. _Time to tie up the loose ends, Hugo._

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Hugo arrived at the docks precisely on time and entered the warehouse where ships cargo was usually stored. He saw a stout, swarthy man sitting at a small table, flanked by four huge bodyguards, humming to himself. The man stopped humming when he saw Hugo, and gave him a shark-like grin.

"Hello Victor, thank you for meeting me at such short notice." Hugo took a seat opposite the man.

"Not a problem Hugo" Victor drawled, his accent was not as harsh as Falcone's, almost like he had rubbed the sharp edges off of it. "Now, what can I do for _you_?"

"I have a _problem_ that I need...eliminating. The _problem_ works for Falcone." Victor's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"And what has this...problem done to you?"

"It decided to take an interest in my home life, and it became _bothersome."_

"Oh yeah, _bothersome problems_ are the worst." Victor looked back at his bodyguards who laughed on cue.

"_Quite_...can you help?"

"You got a name for this...problem?"

"No, but I have a description...tall, blonde kid. Young, must be around 18 or 19? Kind of a joker..."

Victor's eyes glimmered, "You're not talking about Jack are you? He works for Falcone, and the kid is _dynamite_ at poker. And he's a fucking smart ass too."

"Does he have a temper?" Hugo asked, and Victor blew a low whistle and rolled his eyes.

"Does he have a temper? If this is the same guy we're talking about, I once heard that someone made some offhand remark about Jack being crazy...let's just say the guy doesn't _breathe_ so well nowadays..."

Hugo couldn't help but swallow nervously, "Yes, that does sound like him. So, will you take it?"

"Depends on the money..." Victor wavered.

"Name your price." Hugo said slowly, and Victor sat back in his chair.

"50g. And you'll never have to lose sleep over this problem ever again."

"Deal."

The two men shook hands, and Hugo looked into Victor's dark face. Everything was working out _just perfectly._


	21. Chapter 21

Shoutout to gymnstgrl, Franlucylucci and Jokerlover for your reviews! :D Thanks guys for taking the time to review - they make me happpppy!

I'm sorry I've not updated as fast as I normally do, it's been sooooooooooooo busy this week! I'm auditioning for a part in a local production of Macbeth so I've been learning some lines! Shakespeare is so hard to understand though LOL! :S

Anywaaaay - on with the show! This chapter is probably a little filler-ish, but it's leading somewhere so don't worry :)

Disclaimer: blah blah DC / Chris Nolan. Blah blah original characters.

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**Chapter 21**

Jack rode through the grimy streets of the Narrows with a steely determination. He was on his way to get Georgiana from her home; he had wanted her to come with him last night but she had point-blank refused. In her own words, "I won't be chased out, _hidden_ by shadows, like I did something wrong." He was on the verge of telling her not to be so stubborn, and just slinging her over his shoulder, but he wouldn't force her to do anything – he couldn't. He had made her swear that she would be waiting for him the next morning, and he would come and get her.

However when he had arrived at Quinn Hall, the house was dead. He climbed up to her room, like always, and saw the aftermath of whatever struggle had occurred in there. Items of furniture were broken, the bedside lamp lay limp and cracked on the floor, her luggage half packed and strewn everywhere. Jack walked around slowly, taking in the mess that lay before him. A chill of pure hatred ran down the length of his body as he thought of Hugo Quinn, it made his heart stop for a beat it was so strong. Jacks fingers tenderly touched the garments that spilled from Georgiana's suitcase, feeling the soft fabric with his roughened fingertips.

A creak in the floorboard alerted Jack, and his head whipped round to glare at the closed door of Georgiana's bedroom. He crept stealthily up behind it, picking up Georgiana's hockey stick that lay on the floor. Footsteps were coming ever closer on the other side of the door. He heard voices and could just about hear what they were saying:

"This should be a fucking piece of cake. We just gotta find the kid. That Quinn guy said he'd probably be hanging around in that chick's bedroom." The voice was raspy and ugly, but Jack was lapping up every word the thug said like honey.

"You hear what he did her?" A slightly high pitched voice piped up.

"No, what?"

"Well, I don't know if it's bullshit or not – you know _Vinny_ – but Quinn had his own daughter locked up in the nut house!"

Jack's eyes widened and his grip tightened on the hockey stick. He licked his lips, and blinked slowly as he continued to eavesdrop on the conversation

"You're shittin' me..." the footsteps stopped outside the door and Jack's free hand fell onto his hunting knife in his boot, feeling it gently in its sheath.

The door started to open and Jack quickly hid behind the other side of the door, keeping himself out of view. A thickset guy with close cropped hair walked in, aiming a Colt 45 in front of him. Jack leapt from behind the door and wrapped the hockey stick round the guys head, causing him to make a surprised grunt noise. Jack managed to grab him round the neck before he fell to the ground, and stole the thug's gun and directly positioned it at his temple

"I'm sorry, we've got off on the wrong foot haven't we?" Jack whispered sweetly into his ear.

"Fuck you kid! Let him go!" The other thug pointed his gun directly at Jack's head.

Jack just cackled, and promptly shot the man he was holding in the head. Blood and brain matter sputtered from the wound as the guy flopped to the ground but within seconds, Jack had already shot the other thug in his right knee cap. The bullet drove through the guys bone and cartilage, the madness of the pain causing him to fire wildly in the room and scream with anguish. Jack ducked behind the dresser, and shot the man again in his gun hand. He squealed like a butchered pig and dropped his gun in front of him, doubled up in pain on the floor, crying and moaning.

Jack ran over and grabbed the gun, tucking it in the back of his jeans. He watched as the blood literally poured from the man, rivulets of red started to pool around the man's body as he looked up at Jack with barely concealed terror. Jack simply looked down at him with deathly black eyes and proceeded to pistol whip him.

The man was laying there, bloody and whimpering when Jack had abruptly stopped beating him. He bent down so he could get eye level with him, and took his long index finger, and probed the open wound on his knee cap, instantly making the thug gasp in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, as Jack went deeper, touching bloody nerves and tender flesh. The thug started to murmur a prayer, which _really _made Jack laugh. He was still howling with laughter when he removed his bloody finger from the wound, and trailed the blood over the thug's mouth.

Sliding his hunting knife from his boot, Jack sliced the man's throat open like a slab of meat. He stared into his eyes, and watched as the life light grew dim, blood falling from the gash in his neck like a waterfall, soaking the man's cheap shirt.

Jack got up and walked into the ensuite bathroom of Georgiana's room. He saw the damage he had previously done to the mirror where he punched it and caused it to smash on the night of the Arkham hold up. He stared hard into that part of the mirror and saw himself reflected many times in the different shaped shards. The blood and brains of the men he had just killed were sliding down his face, but he felt numb. Hugo had imprisoned Georgiana in Arkham, she was under lock and key, being kept far away from Jack. His breathing started to become ragged as he felt the anger build up in his chest, and let out an ungodly howl as though his life had been ripped viciously from him. He needed to get her out of there, but not before he had a _word _with Hugo."When the angel death is around, you can almost hear his _wings _beating." Jack said to himself in the mirror, before his face broke out into a sly grin.

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Georgiana awoke feeling extremely sluggish. She tried to move her head but it felt so heavy on her neck, she thought it would break it. She had to make do with turning her head to the right. Her drug-addled brain reacted slowly upon seeing the _guests _seated causally by the side of her bed.

Georgiana's body jerked in response but she found she was strapped tightly to her hard bed, and she started to panic as her mind had not fully awoken yet. She stopped when she heard a familiar, ice cold voice speak.

"Miss Quinn, I would stop that if I were you. You'll hurt yourself." Georgiana hesitantly looked up into the frozen wastelands that were Jonathan Crane's eyes. He locked on her eyes, and she was sure she could see an imperceptible smile grace his face. Inwardly shuddering, her gaze flickered over to Jeremiah Arkham who was sitting patiently, flicking through a dozen important looking papers. Arkham glanced up and a patronising smile plastered itself over his face. "Miss Quinn, wonderful! You're finally awake!"

"Why is he in here? He's just an intern..." her eyes cautiously focussed back onto Crane, who was cleaning his rimless glasses on his white coat in a fastidious manner.

"Don't worry dear; it's very usual for interns at Arkham to be present with doctors when they make their rounds. And...," he turned to Crane in a fatherly sort of way, "I hope you don't mind me saying this Jonathan?" Swiftly turning back to smile at Georgiana, "...he has a very _bright _future here at Arkham."

Georgiana couldn't stop her face slacking with sorrow as she stared at the misguided doctor, but Arkham was completely oblivious to her feelings and continued to talk in his cheery, nasally voice.

"You've been out for a good four hours Georgiana! I was worried you weren't going to wake up."

"Have...you been sitting there all this time?" Her eyes squinted at them in disbelief, but Arkham gave a hearty laugh.

"No no no! Jonathan here has been keeping an eye on you, as well as the Nurses! Silly _girl!" _This was apparently the funniest thing that the doctor had ever heard, and Georgiana mused to herself that the guy did spend rather a lot of time amongst the _insane..._which would explain a lot.

"Doctor, I don't feel very well, my body is aching all over...and my stomach..." Since she had started to come round, she had started to feel distinctly nauseas and her stomach was cramping uncontrollably.

"Well we did have to strap you in good and tight, in case you started to fuss again." He was talking to her like a naughty child who had been found with their hand in the cookie jar, "but we will need to examine you properly. Jonathan, could you bring Nurse Joy in please?"

Crane elegantly stood up, and pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "Of course, Doctor Arkham." He opened the door and ushered in a tiny woman with golden curls and a pleasant face. She reminded Georgiana of a little sparrow, hopping around daintily. When Nurse Joy came closer, Georgiana could see that her eyes were different colours; one blue and one grey. She gave a little smile which Georgiana could only blink at in confusion.

"Nurse Joy is going to help us with the examination; it's very routine and there is nothing at all to worry about. But, we will need you _unrestrained_; will you behave if we remove the straps?" Georgiana nodded silently. "Good girl."

They started to unbuckle the straps and Georgiana began to feel the strain release from her body.

"All right Georgiana, I'm just going to check your heart beat now, but I need to open your top a little. Do want to undo the first couple of buttons please?" Georgiana raised her shaking hands to undo the buttons, all the while feeling Crane's penetrating glare. Arkham placed the cold stethoscope onto her exposed chest, "Big breath in now...and out...in...and out." She could feel her heart thump steadily and the doctor gave a nod of approval.

"You said you felt some pain? Where are you feeling it Georgiana?"

"My stomach mainly. It's stabbing...stabbing, _shooting_ pains." The doctor placed his cool hands on her abdomen and pressed down slightly, which made Georgiana gasp in pain. The doctor narrowed his eyebrows, "we should probably get you x-rayed..."

"Is that OK for you to do when you're...pregnant?" Arkahm and Crane whipped their heads up at the same time.

"Oh...well...this was not expected..." the doctor was clearly a little flustered and floundering for the right words to say. He felt safe dealing with the mind, not a woman's reproductive _facility._

"She may be suffering a miscarriage...time will tell." Crane coolly stated. Georgiana sat up quickly, but grabbed her stomach as the pains became too much.

"W-what? Miscarriage? Oh God..." Nurse Joy went to comfort Georgiana, and shot an angry look at Crane.

"Yes, could be, could be. Unfortunately Georgiana, once a miscarriage has started...nature will take its course..."

"But you're doctors! You're meant to be fucking helping me?" She was becoming hysterical.

Nurse Joy spoke up and tried to comfort her, "We could take her for an ultrasound, and check the baby's progress? It would tell us one way or another, what exactly is going on..."

"Agreed. Nurse Joy, please take Georgiana down to the Maternity wing and get her checked out. "

"You have a maternity wing?" Georgiana asked them quizzically.

"You'd be surprised what the insane get up to, Miss Quinn." Crane drawled, "Where there's a will, there's a way..."

Arkham merely laughed and patted the young intern on the shoulder, "Yes, quite, Jonathan! Well Georgiana, we shall meet later once you've had your scan." Arkham left her room, and Crane followed...but Georgiana noticed he cast a lingering look in her direction before he left the room.

Nurse Joy touched her arm gently, "I'll get a wheelchair for you, I won't be a moment."

Now Georgiana was truly alone in her cell-like room. Its white walls taunting her with their sheer blandness, and the sterile smell that permeated throughout the room was too overwhelming for her shocked mind.

She dragged her hand through her hair and automatically thought of Jack. Was he OK? What would her father do to him? A tear dripped from her eye, and paranoia gripped her mind; but Jack was a born survivor, if anything her father should be the one who was afraid.

She just hoped he wouldn't kill her father...she wanted that _privilege _for herself.


	22. Chapter 22

Thank you lovely reviewers! Neverleft, gymnstgrl, gaarasgrl19, lutricity and Franlucylucci! You guys keep me writing you really do, thanks so much for your encouragement :D *hugs you all*

I've put a picture of John Blake on my twitpic account now – link is on my profile if you want to check it out :) It's a moody photo of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but I do love him as the character!

Another song for the playlist – 'Du Riechst so gut' by Rammstein. Link is on my profile like always.

Disclaimer: nope nope nope - I don't any anything that is DC / Chris Nolan related. Only own original characters.

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**Chapter 22**

The little oval pulsated on the ultra sound screen in front of Georgiana. Nurse Joy had said something to her, but she was so transfixed by the beauty of the dark shape dwelling in her belly that she didn't hear her.

"Georgiana, did you hear me? There's a heartbeat detected."

Georgiana didn't breathe in case her breath could somehow blow the Nurse's words into the ether. She looked at Nurse Joy, and gave her a heartbreaking smile; she could almost cry she was so happy. Even though Georgiana was incarcerated in her very own version of hell, this news was a sacred blessing for her.

Nurse Joy smiled back, and said "But you're not out of the woods yet. You need to take care of yourself, _relax _and don't get yourself worked up. If you do that, you'll be out of here in no time."

_You better fucking believe it sister..._"Yes, I hope so. Thank you" Georgiana was starting to become an expert in hiding her real feelings to people. This nurse that was staring at her so fondly had no idea that she had killed a man in cold blood , helped with the disposal of the body and was carrying the child of a underworld-crime-lord-in-the-making. It was nearly laughable... _Ah well, ignorance is bliss._

Georgiana was in the process of being escorted back to her room, when another nurse stopped them in the hallway. This nurse was the exact opposite of Nurse Joy in every way. If a Sherman tank would have evolved into a human being, then this nurse would have been the result. She must have stood at least six foot with broad shoulders, strong muscular arms, a thick neck and a tree trunk for a body. Her black hair was scraped back into a thick ponytail which only added to her mannish exterior. Her voice was unsurprisingly deep and even in tone when she spoke, "Nurse Joy, Georgiana has a visitor. A police officer wants to talk to her. Please bring her to Dr. Arkham's office."

"Of course Nurse Lydia, we'll go there straight away."

Georgiana blinked fast. But she had no time to think as she was quickly manoeuvred to the ground floor. Once they reached the floor, a feeling of déjà vu crept up on her. They walked past the main hall towards three offices that were situated on the opposite side. They stopped outside the office that Freddie and she had been in on the night of the Arkham hold up...where he had _abused_ her, and Georgiana couldn't help but stumble. "I don't want to go in there." She muttered to herself.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that?" Nurse Joy said.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud. " She replied quietly. She really, really didn't want to go in there – but she was going to just have to grow a tough skin..._and get on with the show._

They entered Dr. Arkham's office and Georgiana immediately came face to face with Officer John Blake, who looked incredibly pissed. Arkham merely sat behind his desk, peevishly clicking his biro.

"Officer Blake...what are you doing here?" Georgiana was incredulous, but somewhere deep down inside, she knew she could trust him as one of her few allies.

"I could say the same for you Georgiana! I wanted to see if you were all right." Concern clouded his sincere features as he looked at her. "I need speak to her alone," he turned back towards Akham, "or I could come back with a _warrant." _Blake was clearly insinuating something, and that something wasn't lost on Arkham. He dropped his pen and jumped up out of his seat like a jack-in-the-box.

"Oh no, ha, that won't be necessary I do assure you officer! Please, feel free to use my office for as long as you like!" He shooed Nurse Joy out the room and Georgiana and Blake were left alone together. She looked at him, and flopped into a chair.

"I have no idea why I'm here officer..." she waved her hand wearily, "...have you asked my father?"

"Yes, but he wasn't very forthcoming with his answers...is there anything you need to tell me Georgiana?" He was willing her to speak up; pleading with her mentally to confess to something he could nail to that no-good bastard, Quinn, with. He couldn't help but feel protective over this young woman; he believed that her slightly cold exterior was a mere front, a shield that she had built up due to years of neglect and emotional abuse. It just made him want to reach out and touch her, but he knew he couldn't. It would have been incredibly inappropriate for him to do so, so he pushed his thoughts down into himself and continued to coax her to speak.

Georgiana had no comprehension of the soft feelings she evoked in the officer. She was certain that he liked her, but not to what extent. But Georgiana had other thoughts on her mind...What specially selected morsel of information could she give to the determined officer, which would make him sniff out her father's evil doings? _Oh what the hell..._

"My father met with Falcone frequently at our home, they had...business dealings together...like my father knew the right people to bribe to get Falcone the city trash collection contract. If you were to search his office, I'm sure you would find some dirt on him."

Blake nodded grimly and wrote in his note pad. "Thank you Georgiana...do you know if he may have had any connection to the disappearance of Frederick Lawrence?"

Georgiana paused for a moment, "Oh, I'm positive he did."

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Georgiana was deposited back to her room after she had a quick debrief with Arkham. She told him the bare minimum in the _sweetest _possible way, and he was pretty happy with that. For someone who had a bucket load of medical qualifications, it seemed he had missed out on acquiring some _common sense._

Georgiana sat down on her bed and laid herself down to sleep. She was slowly drifting off when she heard her door creak open, and saw a huge shape enter the room. She shot up and glared at the intruder, it was one of the orderlies that had come with Arkham to pick her up from Quinn Hall – not the one that had pinned her down she thought to herself, but the _other _one.

"What do you _want?_" She was tired and wanted to be left alone, but was now unfortunately being stared at by a great big dope.

He had his hands hidden behind his back, and suddenly he thrust a purple coloured box towards her that was wrapped with a black ribbon. He kept staring at her with what could only be described as...pleading.

She took the box gently, and felt a little guilty at how she had snapped at him. Her tone softened, "Thank you, what's your name?"

The mountain of a man blinked slowly, and it looked like he was deciding on an answer. Finally he spoke, "George." He said in a low voice.

"Good name...I'm Georgiana. " She smiled wryly, "What's in the box?"

"Open... it's yours." He pointed towards the box in her hands.

She looked down and slowly opened the box. Inside it contained a rectangular metal box which had a keypad attached to it. Next to it was a vial of some kind of green liquid, and a note. She picked up the paper and dotted all over were little doodles of explosions, guns...and _love hearts_. She scanned the messy handwriting and read it to herself:

_**Hello Princess,**_

_**I heard your dad sent you on a little vacation? Well it's time to come home now. You see that big guy that's staring at you? He's a...FRIEND. **_

_**Now, take hold of the metal box. This is a bomb. To activate it, press 56537. You'll have 10 minutes to TAKE COVER! Tomorrow at midnight, our FRIEND is going to take you to the kitchens, and you need to bring the bomb. Attach it to the far wall...this won't be the only explosion...ha ha...**_

_**Almost forgot about the green stuff – that's just some fun I thought you might like. Put it in someone's drink and...well, you'll see.**_

_**See you very soon,**_

_**Jx**_

Georgiana glanced up at George and he just stared back at her. "Thanks George, I'll see you tomorrow night..._can't wait." _George nodded and left the room. Georgiana placed the box on the floor, and picked up the vial of green liquid. She lay down on the bed, and brought the vial close to her face so she could get a good look at it. "I wonder what you do then, hmm?" she twirled it in her fingers, and tapped it against her mouth. She smiled softly to herself, and a breathy laugh escaped from her throat. Georgiana reached down and put the vial back in the box, and plucked the ribbon from the box. The blackness contrasted greatly with the pallor of her skin as she wrapped the ribbon around her fingers. She placed her ribboned hand underneath the side of her face, and thought of Jack. His dark eyes, his soft lips, his toned but scarred body and the way he _touched_ her. Georgiana's other hand slid downwards, and she started to touch herself gently. She was ridiculously turned on; the whole excitement and danger of the situation was an aphrodisiac, and she just had to deal with her urges. Besides, she had nothing but time on her hands tonight anyway...

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Hugo arrived home late as usual. He shrugged of his jacket and placed it on the hallway table, and gradually made his way up to his bedroom. The silence of the landing was practically deafening, but Hugo was too tired notice the eerie stillness enveloping him as he trudged to his room down the never-ending hall way.

He opened the door slowly and kept his gaze to the floor. Entering the room, he barely looked up until he smelt something _acrid_. He gingerly lifted his gaze to his oak framed bed, and on each side hung a dead body from the rafters of the ceiling. Hugo felt the vomit start to rise, but he forced it from making its way up from his stomach. Hugo's legs were trembling as he staggered to the body closest to him, this one had been strung up by his wrists rather than by his neck and on closer inspection Hugo saw the reason. The man's throat had been ripped out, and there would have been essentially nothing to attach the rope to. Hugo started backwards but stumbled to the floor, disbelief and disgust blending on his face as he sat there looking up at the disfigured corpses. He stood up with great effort and noticed a bloody note pinned to the shirt of the body closest to him. He tentatively ripped it off, and in shaking hands he read the note aloud to himself:

_**You can't rely on anybody. You HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF**_

_**Ha ha ha **_

The three 'ha's' at the end were scratched into the paper in jagged lines. Hugo's hand twitched and the note floated to the ground and landed at his feet. His brain was overloaded by the sheer horror that was in his bedroom... but the true terror was that Hugo knew exactly what had happened. Victor's men had failed to kill that_ boy. _He was just one boy! How the hell could he have performed vivisection on two professional killers? Hugo had clearly and severely underestimated him, but what now? Hugo's mind was too frazzled by tonight's episode to think straight. One thing was for sure, he wouldn't be sleeping here tonight.

Picking up the phone in his room and dialling, Hugo watched from the corner of his eyes as the corpses swung softly from an invisible draught. The dialling tone provided a monotonous soundtrack as his eyes flickered from one body to the next.

A male voice picked up, "Yeah?"

"Victor, it's Hugo. There's a problem. You need to send the cleaners to my house. Your men are dead._"_

"What? _Both_ of them?" Hugo tore his eyes away from the bodies, "Yes, both of them." He replied and hung up. Victor had failed him, and he was now a man that was rapidly running out of options. He wearily raised his head to the ceiling and picked up the phone again and dialled a different number.

"Gotham Plaza Hotel."

"It's Hugo Quinn, I need your penthouse tonight."

"Of course Mr. Quinn, we look forward to seeing you."

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Harley was sat in her old armchair eating her chicken flavoured Cup Noodles. She felt _swell _now that the stupid bitch was locked up in Arkham. She knew Daddy Quinn would freak out, but not to that extent. But even so, it was perfect. Jack wouldn't be distracted anymore, and could now concentrate on his real future...with _her_.

There was a sharp knock at the door and Harley looked up from her food. She waltzed over and peeked through the peephole, it was Jack. A beaming smile burst onto her face as she opened the door with a flourish.

"Jack! I knew you would come!" Jack narrowed his eyes and grinned at her.

He twirled his hand in the air, "Can I, uh, come in?" She happily ushered him inside her tiny, rundown apartment and motioned for him to sit down in the armchair.

Jack sat down, and Harley took her place on the floor by his feet. She stared up at him like a dog waiting for its master's command. Jack looked down at her and smirked, but his eyes contained no emotion as he spoke. "Well Harley, I just couldn't stay away. You were right about that girl...nothing but trouble in the end." Harley could not contain her utter joy; she reached up to grasp his face and planted a full kiss on his lips. Jack just sat there motionless and had to restrain himself from breaking her neck. Inwardly he thought of Georgiana, and how her sweet taste was much more intoxicating than this _nonentity's_ dull flavour.

Harley broke away from him and gasped with delight; Jack moved imperceptibly back from her and laughed.

"Now, now Harley...time for that later." He pushed her gently back onto the floor, and leaned towards her. " I came here because I need your help. I'm planning on having a.._.fireworks_ display at Arkham tomorrow and I would just _love_ it if you came along." He grinned wickedly and spoke in a whisper, "It would mean the world to me."

Harley was confused, "Why at Arkham?"

"Oh well, to seal our new _partnership!" _He waved his hands dramatically in the air, "You know out with the old, and in with the new?" He gave her a pointed look that was loaded with _meaning. _At least, he thought, she would think it was.

"Oh, OK!" She nodded her head excitedly, and Jack's grin widened.

"Won-_der_-ful. I'll swing by tomorrow night to get ya." He stood up and Harley followed him to the door. "Bye Harleeey."

He walked down the stairs in her shitty apartment building. He thought to himself as he lazily walked out of the building: _killing two birds with one stone, breaking Georgiana out of Arkham...and teaching Harley a lesson. Perfect. _Thinking of Georgiana and the baby inside of that place made his blood seethe, people had to learn that they couldn't just take things that didn't belong to them, and do what they wanted with them. It was just plain rude. _No, no, no_..._it wouldn't do at all. _He felt the rage within grab hold of him, but he had to be careful...he didn't want to waste his creative juices before the party had even started.


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you The Burlesque Mistress.92, RosalieRowan and a mystery Guest :D for your reviews ! Big hugs to you! xx

I'm a bit tired, so I'm sorry if this chapter comes across a bit disjointed! :S I may come back and edit it...just didn't wanna keep you guys waiting! Hope you like! **There will be *raised eyebrow* in the next chapter but I'm just too tired to write about *wolf whistles* tonight...I will make up for it I promise!**

Disclaimer: DC/ Chris Nolan called me up to today and to tell me that everything's cool.

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**Chapter 23**

The phone rang at 6am _sharp_ awaking Hugo from his slumber. Hugo picked up the cream receiver on the bedside table and placed it half-heartedly to his ear.

"Good morning Mr Quinn, this is your 6am wake up call. May I help you with anything else sir?"

"No, that's fine." He responded groggily.

"Thank you sir and have a pleasant day." _Click._ He placed the receiver down and stayed there for a moment, trying to come round from his dreadful night's sleep. His dreams had been so vivid he could have sworn someone had been in his room last night; Hugo's eyes scanned the room and saw nothing was out of place, but that still didn't ease his rampant paranoia. He had dreamt that a devil had invaded his room last night; a dark, _smiling, _demonthat hovered at the end of his bed with eyes that shone like bright fires that had just been stoked. It had been so real, so terrifyingly real that a bead of sweat broke from his forehead and slithered down his face as he lay there remembering the dream.

He hoisted himself out of the massive bed and made his way to the ensuite bathroom. Clicking the light on, he walked over to the luxurious sink area and rummaged through his overnight bag. His hand fell on a fat and smooth cylinder which he pulled out quickly. He wouldn't normally take anti-anxiety medication, but popping a couple of Xanax once in a while wouldn't kill him. And good God, he needed them at the moment.

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"I'm not in the mood to talk_." _Georgiana put her hands in her pockets of the obligatory asylum uniform she had been forced to wear and glowered across the desk at Crane, who sat behind it trying _not_ to smirk. Dr. Arkham had strolled into Georgiana's room early this morning and declared that he wanted her to be 'seen' by Crane. Apparently, he had so much belief in Crane due to his success with previous patients, that 'he had no doubt he could work his magic with her too.' Georgiana had protested, but it was no use. She was marched to the office by Arkham to find a triumphant Crane waiting for her. But thankfully before she had left, she had managed to pick up the vial and slip it into her pocket without Arkham noticing.

And now here they were.

"Oh come on now Miss Quinn, its all part of your rehabilitation." Georgiana rolled her eyes and snorted. She leaned forward in her chair and launched a level gaze at him.

"I'm not one for lying Crane...I don't _like_ you and I don't _trust_ you. Also, I don't understand whyI have to talk to you_..._you're not a doctor."

Crane tilted his beautiful face to the side, his brilliant blue eyes never leaving hers, "Do I frighten you Miss Quinn?" He asked gently, like someone who was trying to lure a little bird on to their hand with the promise of some seeds. Georgiana's right eye twitched and she felt her stomach drop. She sat back into the chair, her hands gripping the arms of it. Her eyes flittered down to look at the collar of his shirt, which poked out of the top of his brown patterned sweater

"You would like it if I were, wouldn't you?" she glanced up bravely to look him square in the eyes, and this brought a thin smile to his pink lips. His posture was still rigid however as he placed his palms on the desk. He reached for a notebook and pen that were just to the left of him, and he opened the book very carefully. She watched him as his fingers trailed the spidery hand writing that was contained within, and how his eyes devoured every line. He didn't bother to look up as he spoke again.

"Can I call you Georgiana? It would make things seem a little less..._formal."_

"Can I call you John?" She asked sarcastically. It was Crane's turn to twitch.

"How about Jonathan? I won't bastardize your name, and you can return the favour. Now _Georgiana,_ do you like word games?" He looked up and placed his elbows on the edge of the desk while he clasped his hands together. Placing his chin on top of them, he raised an eyebrow quizzically at her.

She looked at him like he was nuts, and her fingers fiddled with the vial in her pocket nervously. "Now hear me out, it's not as cheesy as it sounds. It's a word association game; I'm going to say some random words and all you have to do is say the first word that comes into your head, got it?"

"Yes _Jonathan." _

He nodded and removed a tape recorder from one of the drawers in Arkham's desk. He clicked the record button and stated the time, date and the _specimen's _name. They were ready to begin.

Crane started the ball rolling, "Ask."

_Ask what? Oh shit... _"Answer."

"Money." Crane continued.

"Bank." Georgiana answered.

"Family."

"No." Crane scribbled away at that answer.

"Flower."

Georgiana looked around the office..."Fresh."

"Sex."

Georgiana grinned, "Great."

"Baby."

Her smile grew, "Us." Crane slowly raised his head and looked over his glasses at her.

"Obviously not me and you!" He just stared at her with no readable emotions on his face.

"Who is the father of your baby Georgiana?" he asked her softly. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck as she bristled at this further questioning.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

Crane responded with a tight, polite smile, before speaking: "I just thought you might like to lighten the weight on your shoulders, it's not easy being a single parent these days."

"I'm not a single parent..."

He asked her with the pretence of innocence, "but...where is your partner? Has he even visited you yet?" He was trying to bait her to see how she would react.

_If only you knew..._she lowered her green eyes to the floor coyly, "No, not yet...but soon."

Crane was far from impressed, but was stopped from replying by the _beep beep_ of his pager. He picked it from his belt and sighed. "I'm sorry Georgiana, I'll be back in a moment." He stopped the recorder and stood up leisurely, smoothing his sleek hair back, "help yourself to coffee, it's just behind you. Pour me one too." She watched him exit the room and close the door behind him.

Georgiana paused for a moment before removing the vial from her pocket. She swirled the contents around and the iridescent green liquid shimmered in the glass. She bit her lip as she made her way over to the coffee pot.

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Crane had arrived back and terminated the session. Apparently the 'incident' he had been called to investigate was going to take a little longer to sort out than he had originally anticipated. He murmured something about a project he was working on, and the test subject was reacting 'unexpectedly'. Georgiana could imagine him experimenting on patients, getting off on the pain and terror he would induce in them. _God, he's so weird. _She thought inwardly, shivering at the idea.

Unfortunately for Georgiana, as soon as she had left, Crane sniffed the coffee she had made for him. A flicker of recognition and _admiration _passed over his face as he smelt the chemicals she had dropped into his drink._ She's put far too much in for it to be unnoticeable..._ He smiled to himself as he walked over to the window and nonchalantly poured it out onto the flowerbed. He was right about the girl; she had a little _fire_ in her. He liked that, he liked it a lot. _Wonder how she would react to the toxin? _A feeling of desire flooded his body; he loved the thought of her little face scrunched up in fear, crying out for help. Perhaps he could touch her at the same time..._maybe even_...he cut himself off from that train of thought before it went any further. He sighed, and sauntered elegantly out of the office.

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The night had finally made its appearance, and Jack and Harley drove towards Arkham Asylum on his motorbike, weaving in and out of the cars with ease. The journey seemed to take a while, but Jack felt elated when they reached the north of the city and took the road that inclined upwards towards the institution.

The northern cityscape of Gotham contained large jagged hills which sprouted various areas of woodland. The Asylum itself was situated at the top of a particularly large and steep hill, and the road leading up to it wound round that hill like a spindly snake.

Jack stopped the bike just outside the Asylum, and rolled it over to a small section of trees where he leaned it against one of the trunks. Harley watched as he strode back to her, and her heart skipped a beat. She went to kiss him but he managed to duck from her embrace making her stumble slightly. He turned around and waggled his eyebrows at her; to which she pouted at him and fluttered her eyelashes. "Oh Jack, you're such a _tease_!" He grinned at her, but as soon as he turned around he rolled his eyes. _Stupid bitch._

Jack checked his phone, and he'd received a message from big ol' George. ** 'Ready.' **It said. "Straight to the point...I _like _it!" He called out to no one in particular.

He circumnavigated the base of the building, with Harley following close behind him. He stopped abruptly, with Harley crashing into the back of him. It took every ounce of his strength not to bash her skull into the wall, but instead he took hold of her hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"One...two...three..."

A huge explosion burst from the wall up along the way from where they were, and Jack snapped his head up. Once the dust had settled, he saw two figures emerge from the ravaged hole in the wall. Jack sprinted towards them, leaving Harley open mouthed in his wake.

The smaller figure stumbled in the rubble and the giant figure held out a massive arm to catch them before they could fall. The smaller figure turned to see who was running towards them, and suddenly dashed out of the giant's arms. Georgiana ran as fast as she could, and leapt at Jack when he came in range of her. He picked her up, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her fiercely. They were both completely unaware of Harley stalking up behind them .

"OUT WITH THE OLD HUH!" She screamed as she strode up to them, hatred choking her voice. Georgiana broke her lips from Jack's and frowned at Harley.

"Let me handle this..." she whispered seductively in his ear. Before he could stop her, Georgiana strolled towards Harley and stopped in front of her.

"You are a filthy, rotten slut! You think you're so god damn high and..." _Craack._

Georgiana slugged her right in the nose and promptly knocked Harley out, and she now lay face down in the dirt. "I have wanted to do that _so badly..." _Georgiana laughed and waved her hands emphatically. Jack cackled, picked her up and swung her round in the air. He kissed her neck, and she felt him nip and lick at her skin instantly sending her head reeling. His mouth left her skin briefly as he looked over her head at the man who had helped him break out Georgiana. He whispered down at her, "We need to get out of here, but I just need to pay this guy...you see that clearing behind us? My bike is there, run over now and I'll meet you in a sec." She nodded, and kissed him hard before darting over to the wooded area.

Jack beckoned George over with a curled finger, and he stomped over to him. Jack took out a big bright red bow from his pocket, and slapped it on Harley's ass. "Here you go big guy...this is your _payment." _A huge grin spread over George's large face, and he scooped up Harley's unconscious body into his large arms. "Thanks Jack." He intoned in a booming voice. George ran in the opposite direction carrying Harley, "Don't mention it, George." He sniggered and hurried back to Georgiana.

He drove them to one of the other nearby hills so they could get a good, clear view of the Asylum. Jack parked the bike and led Georgiana to a large grey coloured rock, where he sat down and pulled her roughly into his lap. He pulled out another metallic box, with a large red button in the middle of it. Georgiana raised her eyebrow at him and murmured "Is that what I think it is?"

Jack wrapped his arms around her and plonked the detonator into her lap; he smelled her hair and whispered, "What are you waiting for?" She grinned to herself as her finger hovered over the button...she pushed it.

Explosions upon explosions lit up the night sky. Arkham was being blown to smithereens, the orange and reds burnt the canvas of the night and it looked so beautiful. Georgiana's eyes widened in wonder as she saw the flames lick higher and higher, engulfing the institution in the fiery mouth of the explosion.

Jack's fingers started to sneak under her top to stroke her warm skin, and Georgiana raised her head to ask for a kiss. Jack more than willingly gave her what she wanted.

**##################################################################################**

**(Scene to be continued...don't hate meeee!)**


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you The Burlesque Mistress 92, Franlucylucci, gmynstgrl, Mish and another mystery Guest for your fab reviews ! Thank you lots and lots! *Sending you virtual yummy things* :D

I have bad news and I have good news...

Bad news – I'm aiming to finish the story in the next 4-5 chapters ...but the good news is...I'm gonna do a sequel when Jack is finally the Joker...but will Georgiana be around?! I have a few ideas... :P

**And there's some *fireworks burst into the air* in this chapter ;) if you're not keen on that, close your eyes **(**until it's over...**

Disclaimer: OK, I 'fess up...I am actually Chris Nolan in disguise. I legally own...stuff. :O

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**Chapter 24**

Somehow they made it back to Jack's apartment that night, though they were both too involved in each other to notice something as trivial as movement. The night time was their friend and it hid them well from the flurry of police sirens and fire trucks that hurtled towards Arkham, their blinding lights flashing and searching through the darkness for perpetrators of this latest crime. Jack and Georgiana, however slipped authority's grasp and safely materialized in the lowly apartment building that was Jack's home.

They moved together seamlessly as though they had never been apart. Jack sat on the edge of the small table in the tiny living area, and Georgiana moved towards him placing her arms delicately around his neck. He in turn circled her slender waist with his arms and pulled her slowly closer. He couldn't take his eyes off of her face. He hated himself for being so frightened of losing her again, hated the thought that he had finally established her as his one weakness in his otherwise impenetrable shield. He had no fear of pain or death for himself; in fact he used to welcome the thought of death. A release from an excruciating existence...but her, it made his chest burn to think of anything happening to her.

Georgiana was aching to kiss him, but Jack just kept studying her face. She moved her mouth close to his and brushed his lips gently with hers, and with that small gesture, Jack came back to earth. He tightened his hold on her and kissed her with such force it left her breathless. Her hands slid down from his neck to feel the tautness of his shoulder blades; they went further down his back until she felt the band of his trousers. Her fingers crept underneath his top to feel the warmth of his flesh, and Jack responded by loosening his hold and placing his mouth on her neck. He took gentle licks and nips of her skin as Georgiana rushed to undo his belt. Her movements sped up due to the fact she was positively dying for him, which Jack noticed, making him laugh softly into her neck causing vibrations to ripple down her skin.

"Don't laugh at me..." She scolded him gently as her hand dipped into his loosened trousers. She took a hold of him which caused him to moan, she moved her hand up and down his shaft. Jack began to undo her shapeless asylum shirt and once it was open, his mouth moved to the little cleft that lay at the base of her neck. His tongue tasted the indentation; a snapshot of her flavour buried itself in his mind for him to keep. Georgiana released him fully from his trousers, and she kicked off her baggy pyjama-like pants so they landed in a heap on the floor. She wore no underwear, and as she pushed herself up on him fully, she felt his hardness against her belly. Jack groaned and pulled her down to the floor, placing her on top of him. She straddled his hips and slowly pierced herself with his cock. Jack growled as he felt her warm wetness envelop him; his hands went to undo her bra which he unceremoniously threw away behind him. He squeezed her breasts as she uttered sweet moans and continued to ride him roughly on top. Jack swore softly under his breath as Georgiana's nails scraped down his chest, leaving little red trail marks in their wake. He couldn't take the teasing anymore, he was desperate for release, so he flipped himself on top of her while staying inside of her. Georgiana was a little surprised by the swift move, but she allowed him to do it. Jack grabbed hold of her legs and placed them on his shoulders, this manoeuvre enabled him to go very deep inside her and it felt fantastic for him. She was so tight, yet soft and wet – his hips rotated slightly as he thrust forwards, making Georgiana's moans even louder. She raised her arms over her head and her fingertips clutched the rug that lay behind them. She was so unbelievably close to the precipice that when Jack roughly stroked her little nub, the heat of desire flooded her body. Her body trembled and she gave herself fully to the feeling he had created inside of her. Because of her natural reaction to him, her walls had vibrated and clenched around him. Jack tried desperately not to come but it was to no avail. The force of her orgasm on him was too much and they came almost instantaneously together; Jack gripped her pale thighs and squeezed his eyes shut as his mind exploded into pitch white.

Still holding onto her, Jack looked down at her face and blew his blonde hair out his eyes, "Well, I take it ya missed me?" his words coming out in short breaths. Georgiana's response was to cackle at him and look back up at him, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"You think?"

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They couldn't bear to leave each other alone all through the night -it was as if they had an involuntary feeling to make up for lost time, and as a result of that they had gotten very little _sleep. _Georgiana had finally woken up in Jack's bed, spread eagled over the covers. She was missing the warmth of her lover's body close to her, but slowly she began to realise that not only was Jack not in bed, but she was completely stark naked. _Hmm that could be why I'm a little chilly..._

She snuggled herself into the blankets and sighed. She turned her head to look in the direction of the living room area and saw Jack sitting at the table. He was hunched over scribbling away on different bits of paper, and several books lay open and scattered over the table and on the floor. His face was a mask of concentration as he continued with whatever plan he was conjuring up. Georgiana inhaled deeply trying to get the smell of him from the pillow she lay on. Jack suddenly looked up over at her, and his smile grew very, very wicked.

"Good morning _Princess! _Someone's a heavy sleeper, huh?"

"I think you may have broken me...but it was worth it." Georgiana replied with a lazy grin, and Jack laughed deeply. "What time is it?" She mumbled through the pillow.

"12:30..."

Georgiana groaned loudly and sat up wearily, wrapping the blankets around her body. She got herself out of bed and walked over to the table; Jack motioned for her to go over to him so she sat on his lap and he continued with his detailed scribbles.

"Are these _equations _Jack?" she asked as she looked down at the huge sheet of paper in front of them. She kissed his cheek as she waited for him to answer.

"They are. Chemical ones too...they're my _favourite_." He bit her lip and she pinched him back, making him squeal girlishly.

"Hmm, maybe I should steal some paper and pencils too...for my own little _daddy_ master plan." Georgiana laughed and stroked his face. His free hand crept inside the blankets and caressed her stomach; a flicker of concern crossed his face but vanished in an instant.

"Well, you could _devise_ something and I could-" Jack started but was abruptly cut off by Georgiana.

"Oh, no no no! I'm devising _and_ taking part . There is no way in _hell _I would miss out on this..."

Jack kept his true emotions hidden deep inside himself, so he just smirked at her. He put his face close to hers and spoke quietly, "And what a surprise we'll give him, don't you think Princess."

Georgiana's tension melted away with those words, and she draped her arms around his shoulders, and heaved a light sigh.

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Hugo shuddered as he entered the restaurant. He would never willingly enter such a _common _place, but desperate times called for desperate measures. _Nero's...what an original name, _he scoffed to himself.

He looked around searching for Falcone, but only saw several of his rather large lackeys striding around the place. Hugo walked up to the bar and called the bar tender over.

"Do you know where Falcone is?" Hugo asked him. The bartender was a strapping swarthy man in his mid-fifties, and he sported an impressive handlebar moustache. He looked Hugo up and down; clearly this man did not fit in here, in the Narrows. The bartender eyed him suspiciously, and spoke in a broad Gotham accent that reminded Hugo of Falcone, "Who's askin'?"

"Hugo Quinn. He's expecting me."

"Is he? Well ain't that grand." The bartender signalled for one of the many body guards to come over.

"You know this guy?" he asked the bodyguard, motioning to Hugo.

"Yeah, we know him." The bodyguard grinned. The guy was a huge, broadchested skinhead, and gave off the air of 'hired mercenary' to a tee. He told Hugo to follow him, and led him up a flight of stairs to where the restaurant's office was situated.

Once inside, Hugo saw Falcone holding court with various other underworld characters that Hugo had seen at one time or another. Falcone's eyes narrowed as he spotted Hugo enter the room, and the atmosphere suddenly grew stilted.

"Hello Hugo, haven't _heard_ from you in a while. Thanks for the cash by the way." Falcone remained seated and gestured for those sitting in the room to leave. Only his massive body guard remained in the room with them, and Hugo took a seat directly opposite Falcone, crossing his legs elegantly.

"What do you want Hugo? I heard on the grapevine you've been awful close with Victor...how's that working out for ya?" Falcone was in the right mood to provoke this smug son of a bitch.

Hugo grimaced at him, "I wasn't aware we had an exclusive partnership Carmine. Anyway, it's no business of yours what I do with Victor. I came here today to talk to you about a proposition I have for you."

Falcone raised his eyebrows "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I want you to kill that _Jack_ boy who works for you. I'll pay handsomely, of course."

Falcone was stunned into silence. The room was thick with nothingness until bubbles of laughter started to erupt from Falcone's mouth. Hugo stared at him, his anger increasing as Falcone sat there laughing, wiping tears away from his eyes. Falcone tried to speak in between his bursts of barely contained mirth.

"What...HAHAHAHA..._What?"_

Hugo huffed, "I'm being serious, Carmine." Falcone's laughter began to subside, and he locked his eyes on Hugo's.

"Why do you want him dead?"

"He has meddled in my personal life..."

Falcone raised his hand to stop him from talking and lent forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his desk, "This got something to do with your daughter? The one you had locked up in Arkham?" He slyly asked.

Hugo swallowed nervously, "That and other things." Falcone started to laugh again, never taking his eyes from Hugo.

"Aw Jack, you sneaky dog!"

"I'm glad you find this so humorous, but he 's a _fucking _liability." Falcone stopped laughing. It was very rare, very rare indeed that Hugo would be driven to swear. He thought himself far too _superior _to ever use cuss words. Jack however, had clearly gotten under his skin: _I knew that kid had potential, _Falcone thought to himself.

Hugo continued, "He _blew up _Arkham to get her out!"

"How do you know it was him?" Falcone countered, but Hugo merely rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on...look, name your price, anything you want. I just want him dead."

Falcone stared at him heavily, and exhaled slowly making his chest sink in slightly. He picked up a matchbox that was on the table, and proceeded to flip it around between his thumb and index finger. The noise of the matches tumbling against one another as the box was being turned was the only thing that could be heard in the room.

"No."

Hugo thought he hadn't heard him right. "Excuse me? Don't you understand what I'm offering you?" He was incredulous.

Falcone stood up, and Hugo followed suit. He walked right up to Hugo and glowered at him, "There's something _you _don't understand Quinn. Our_ kind_ sticks together. Now why don't you fuck off back uptown like a good boy." Falcone shouldered him as he walked past and strolled out of the office.

Hugo stood there, and let the cold realisation wash over him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled note. It was the bloody note that had been left on one of the corpses in Hugo's bedroom by Jack. He shakily opened it and the words mocked him once again.

_**You can't rely on anybody. You HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF**_

A tear fell from Hugo's eye, and the frustration crashed against his chest. In a fit of anger he ripped the note into shreds, letting the paper fall to the floor like confetti. He spun around and hurried out of Falcone's office like the desperate man he had become.

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**Author's note:**

**I'm being dragged to a wedding this weekend so I will probably only be able to update Sun/Mon *waaaail!* Does anyone want to go instead of me? Pleeaaaase? :D I'll give you shiny pennies? xx**


	25. Chapter 25

You guys are so lovely! Big thank you to gaarasgrl19,The Burlesque Mistress 92, Franlucylucci, Mish, Jessi Haven and special Guest! Thank you so much for taking the time to review! :D *shakes all of your hands*

On non-story related news – I got a part in Macbeth! YAAAAAAAAY! Not sure if you guys remember, but a while back I said I was auditioning for a part in a play...I got the part of one of the three witches LOL! I'm officially 'Witch no. 3' - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :D

Ahem...anyway...on with the story ;)

Disclaimer: Oh no, they're on to me...*police sirens outside the window*

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**Chapter 25**

Blake was trying to keep his temper under wraps whilst he was interviewing this guy. He was unbelievably full of his own self importance, and the frosty arrogance was beginning to test his weary patience. The guy just wouldn't give anything at all. Apparently he knew _nothing. _He just sat there rigidly, occasionally looking around and coolly surveying the gloomy interview room they were currently occupying.

"Mr. Crane, let me just see if I have this right...you weren't even aware that there had been _multiple _explosions at Arkham?"

"I merely intern there Officer Blake...I don't actually live there." Crane threw Blake an annoyed look and huffed. He delicately pushed up his sleeve and checked his wristwatch for the time. "Is this going to take much longer? We're moving the patients to Oak Falls while Arkham is being rebuilt, and there is a _stack _of paperwork to get through..."

Blake wasn't that easily put off though, "Did you know that one of the patients escaped? Her name is Georgiana Quinn?"

Crane's eyes thawed minutely, but Blake was quick to pick up on that sudden change before Crane slid his icy mask back up. Blake watched as the graceful young man in front of him rested his hands on his lap, uncrossing his legs as he did so.

"Yes, I was _aware_ of that." His tone cut through Blake like a freshly sharpened blade, making him blink quickly. _That hit a nerve, clearly, _he murmured to himself inwardly. He couldn't help but feel a little elated at the thought of Georgiana being out of that God awful place, and it made him smile to think that she could have possibly pissed off this irritating..._intern_ during her brief stay.

"Do you know of any other escapees?" Blake pressed on, keeping his smile firmly disguised as a serious frown.

"Not to my knowledge, the remaining patients that weren't blown to bits are being transferred as we speak." He casually brushed a piece of imaginary fluff from his shoulder. Blake sat back and sighed, he realised he wasn't going to get any further with him.

"OK, Mr. Crane. Thank you for your time. I'll be in contact if we have any further questions." Once Crane was dismissed, he left the police station and walked out onto the street, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the morning.

He walked briskly along the street towards where his car was parked. Crane balled his fury in the pit of his stomach, so it would not disrupt his calm facade. He was an ice capped volcano with an eruption of anger bubbling inside, if he were to blow his top it would threaten to mar the whiteness of his demeanor with trails of angry red. When he had heard about the explosion, he was tremendously upset. All his work, thank God, was backed up at his flat, but it was the sheer inconvenience that this incident brought about which really irked him. His test subjects were either dead or in a place where he simply couldn't have all the access to them that he desired.

And that _girl_ had escaped. This positively irritated the hell out of him, because normally he wouldn't care. If he wanted to see a pretty girl crouch in terror before him, all he had to do was to take one. He wasn't oblivious to the looks he got from women, and once or twice he had deigned to _interact _with them too. He craved submission and _fear_ from his partners and all though these random women were all too ready to yield to him...he didn't see where the pleasure was in that. It was just too easy. Georgiana on the other hand was exceptionally fiery; she practically seethed with hate every time she came into contact with him. She had been extraordinarily blunt in her feelings towards him, and made damn well sure he knew how much she hated him. Now, when someone like that would submit to him...he couldn't help but be annoyed she had slipped his grasp. He was desperate to know what she _was _frightened of, so he could ultimately be the only one to give her nightmares.

Crane approached his car and unlocked it. Settling himself in, his eyes focussed on a tiny piece of dust that had dared to settle on his impeccably clean dashboard. He took his handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped the dust away. He folded his handkerchief back up and slipped it neatly back into his pocket.

He started the car up and drove down the length of the street. Instead of heading back to Oak Falls to help with the patient transfers, he had decided to pay a visit uptown to where Quinn Corporation was situated.

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"I'm going with you!" Georgiana was standing her ground, but for once Jack wasn't giving into her...

"Nope. Not happening." Jack responded happily. He had been called down to the bar with the green light so he could receive a brief from Falcone, and Georgiana had wanted to go with him. "Look, seriously it's kinda boring...Falcone will just waltz in and say..." Jack switched to a comedy Gotham accent that was meant to mimic Falcone, "Hey Jacky-boy! I got some shit I want ya to do! Yeah, you got it? Whaddaya want? A FUCKIN' MEDAL?"

Georgiana couldn't help but laugh at him, and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say: _see what I mean?_

She turned away from him, and he watched her stroll over to the beaten up couch and sit on the arm. She looked deviously up at him and smirked, "I suppose I could use the time to, uh,_ plan_...and when you get back, I can do a show and tell."

He walked over closer to Georgiana and sat on the edge of the table facing her and smiled. "Exactly!" he cried out.

Georgiana looked down at her hands and muttered: "I'm surprised Blake hasn't pounced on my father yet though..."

Jack tried to control his face from scowling and endeavoured to keep his voice even, "Who's...Blake?"

She looked up at him innocently, "A police officer. He brought me home from the Arkham raid, and then he visited me when I was locked up there. I thought he might be useful that's all. I gave him some choice information on my father..."

This didn't ease Jack's jealousy in the slightest; he didn't like the idea of this _Blake..._especially since this was the first time he had heard of him. He made a mental note to himself to keep an eye out for this guy and see what his deal was.

"Well, Officer Dibble would need hard evidence, and maybe he couldn't do his job properly and find it." Jack brightly remarked. He walked over to where she sat, and gestured for her to get up. He held her waist and pushed her hair gently over her shoulder, "Anyway, we don't need _him _– we'll have our own plan for your pops by tonight." He said softly, tilting her chin up to place a hard kiss on her mouth. Her hands went up into his hair, and she tenderly stroked the base of his neck. He parted his lips from hers slightly, "Aw princess you really don't play fair..."

She brushed her lips against his and breathed out her next words, "Let's make it snappy, you have places to be."

He grinned at her, "Yes ma'am" he laughed, and kissed her neck. "I'll see what I can do..."

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Harley opened the door to her apartment listlessly and scraped her feet inside. Slowly, she closed the door and locked it once again. She felt like the walking dead, which was also what she currently resembled as well. She had been too scared to return to her flat straight away after the Arkham explosion, in case of any more nasty surprises. But she had finally given in and returned home.

Her head turned towards the direction of the cheap mirror in her tiny entranceway and she instantly felt so sorry for herself. Her skin was deathly pale and stained with cuts and bruises after fighting off that behemoth of a man. She had managed to kill him before he went too far, but because he was so large he had taken fucking _forever _to just go down.

Harley trudged through to her bathroom, and turned on the shower. As she waited for the water to heat up, she peeled off her clothes, wincing as her bruises were caught by the fabric. She stepped into the shower and let the water wash over her. It didn't take long for the tears to fall, the droplets merging with the water from the shower head. She felt hopeless, worthless..._betrayed. _Her chest heaved up and down as the weight of the situation fell on her like a ton of bricks. Jack had given her to another man without a second thought, even though he knew that she would have died for him. He had made his choice, and it certainly wasn't Harley.

Her forehead rested against the tiled wall of the shower, taking comfort in the smoothness against her skin. But the pain of rejection was twisting her innards in knots and it hurt so much. She couldn't live without Jack, and now Georgiana had him. The familiar feeling of hatred surged through her veins at the thought of her adversary.

She turned off the shower and reached for a towel. She dried herself and thought: _Is there any point in carrying on? _Harley's mind skipped to images of Jack and Georgiana kissing outside of Arkham, and her heart felt a crushing, vice-like squeeze on it.

She looked down at her toes and watched as she wiggled them. Her eyes narrowed, her throat constricted itself as vicious thoughts sped through her mind, "So long as I'm breathin', I'll _never _give up."

_I'll make them pay._

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Falcone entered the bar with the green light and walked straight towards the main room. He immediately saw the group of men huddled around a round table playing a tense game of poker. His eyes fell on Jack as he declared his hand, and all those around the table moaned and groaned at the fact he had won yet again.

"I'm real sorry to break up ya tea party, but we've got business to discuss." At the sound of Falcone's voice the men stood up quickly. Only Jack stayed seated, shuffling the deck.

Falcone sauntered up to Jack, who lifted his head up as his boss came towards him. Falcone jerked his thumb at him and barked, "I wanna talk to you first." Jack nodded, and followed him to a door by the side of the bar.

Once they were inside the next room, Jack closed the door and faced Falcone with a neutral expression.

"So, your girlfriend's dad paid me a visit..."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "My girlfriend...boss?"

"Don't play dumb, Jacky boy – it don't suit ya." Falcone snapped at him, "let's just say you're not his idea of the perfect son-in-law..."

Jack grinned impishly, "Did he offer you money to kill me?" Falcone couldn't help but laugh himself.

"Name any price; he said. You think I should have taken it?"

Jack shrugged, "I think you would miss my sparkling personality around the place." Falcone shook his head and gave him a deadly serious look.

"I don't give a shit where or who you stick your dick in...what I don't like is the idea of you working behind my back...blowing up Arkham without my consent is a big no-no in my book. I'm prepared to let it go this time, mainly because of the look on Quinn's face about you and his daughter."

Jack tilted his face down and watched Falcone carefully.

"But this is your last warning. You do anything else without my say-so...I'll hit ya where it hurts, _Jacky-boy."_

Falcone saw the blackness in his eyes, but thought nothing of it. He just wanted to make sure his message had been received. Jack said nothing, and just gave a curt nod in response. The crime lord mused aloud to himself, "beautiful girl...can't say I blame ya!" He slapped Jack on the arm and laughed loudly at his own joke. "Let's go join the rest of the boys shall we?"

Jack followed him out to rejoin the rest of the gang, his face was a mask of pure calm but inside he couldn't stop laughing. Falcone had made his day, he truly had. Hugo must be really desperate if he had to go to his former associate and beg him to kill one of his best men. W_hat a predictable asshole, _he thought to himself.

He busied himself with neat ways to kill Hugo Quinn as Falcone droned on about the next job he had in mind for his boys. Jack stopped himself as he remembered something that Georgiana had said to him about her father, _Death is too good for him..._Jack huffed inwardly, and hoped she would let him carve something off of him.

_Guess I'll find out tonight, _and with that thought a small smile broke out over his face. Falcone gave him an odd look, and Jack composed himself accordingly.


	26. Chapter 26

Thank you lovely reviewers! gaarasgrl19,The Burlesque Mistress 92, and RosalieRowan!

I've managed to get this chapter out today – and there is a showdown between Harley and Georgiana... :O brace yourselves...

Another song to add to the playlist is Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (link is on my profile like always :P)

Disclaimer: Oui, je suis un baguette.

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**Chapter 26**

Georgiana lay on her stomach in the middle of the bed, making her own various scribbles on the large pad of paper in front of her. Jack had given her a shirt to wear until they could get her clothes from Quinn Hall, or simply buy some new ones. She loved it though; it was a black button up shirt that needed cuff links (which the shirt didn't appear to have) so she just pushed up the sleeves on her forearms. Jack also mentioned that she didn't need any pants...she felt the familiar warmth as she remembered the positively _dirty _look he gave her before he left for the bar with the green light.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't hear the front door open at first, but the light 'click' of the door shutting alerted her to a presence entering the flat. She smiled softly to herself and without looking up she called out, "That didn't take long."

Georgiana was met with stony silence. She furrowed her brow and looked up towards the entrance.

"Sorry to disappoint you..."

She quickly scrambled up from the bed and stared hard into her intruder's face.

Harley stood on the other side of the room to Georgiana, her shoulders hunched and her chest heaving. Harley was trying to cap her anger, but as soon as she saw Georgiana sprawled on Jack's bed in his _shirt,_ she just couldn't...her hatred had gained a whole new level.

Georgiana's entire body was tense and primed for attack; she carefully looked around for a weapon and saw nothing that was obvious. A grin spread on her face as a dangerous thought entered her mind. She pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side in a thoughtful way.

"So, how was your date Harley?" She asked politely, with a _smile_.

Harley blinked and licked her lips slowly, "Heh, I'm not so sure he'll be calling any time soon." She clenched her hands into fists, the nails digging into the pads of her palms. The pain this induced kept her focussed on Georgiana, instead of just passing out from her anger.

"Well you can't win them all..." She side stepped from the bed, and ambled up to the living area where the table and chairs were situated. Harley watched her through her narrowed eyes, waiting for her opportunity to attack. But Georgiana looked so calm, so collected as she moved– it almost unnerved Harley. _Almost._

Georgiana abruptly stopped and spun round to direct a malevolent stare at Harley. "Why are you _here_?"

It was Harley's turn to smile, "I was in the neighbourhood...is _Jack _home?"

Georgiana shook her head slowly; her soft red hair shook as she did so. "Harley...why don't you just stop it?" Her voice was firm, "He will never be yours..._ever."_

Harley's face turned a shade of burgundy, before she let out a massive, ear splitting scream and launched herself at Georgiana. Her hands were raised, ready to grab hold of her neck, but Georgiana quickly picked up one of the kitchen chairs and broke it over Harley's head. Wood split and splintered in all directions, showering the floor with the remnants.

This action however only stunned Harley for a mere moment, "It'll take more than that, BITCH!" she screamed with a hollow voice. She planted a boot directly into Georgiana's stomach, sending her tumbling to the floor. Harley then tried to grab at her legs, but Georgiana was way too fast for her. She leapt up from the floor and landed a sound punch into Harley's face, sending her sideways into the grey wall near the entrance way. Harley looked up at Georgiana, a trickle of blood ran down from her mouth and she licked it. She smiled devilishly and hissed "That all you got, you piece of shit slut?"

Georgiana raced towards her, but Harley managed to throw a punch straight into Georgiana's abdomen which caused her to double over, and was swiftly followed by a roundhouse kick to her face. Georgiana sprawled out on the floor and clutched her stomach. Shooting pains ripped through her lower half, but she had no time to think about them as Harley hovered over her like a broken and demented angel. Harley kicked her brutally in the kidneys a few times, before reaching down and dragging her up by the shirt she was wearing.

Georgiana was finally face to face with Harley; she leant her head backwards and propelled her forwards forcefully, directly smashing into Harley's nose, causing her to relinquish her grip on Georgiana, who dropped to her knees. She instantly crawled under the table as Harley was trying to gain her bearings, and picked up a wooden shard that had come from the broken chair. She crawled back towards Harley, who had now regained her senses, and was raging towards Georgiana like a deranged harpy.

Georgiana raised the wooden shard and pierced Harley in the right foot. Blood spurted out from the wound and splattered her in the face, as Harley howled in pain.

"You fuckin' bitch! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Harley roared in her face, spittle flying from her mouth.

"I'd like to see how you can do that...WITH ONE FRIGGING EYE!' Georgiana poked her viciously in the eye, then sped towards the kitchen unit and clutched a kitchen knife from the side. She whipped around to see Harley bending down to rip the wooden shard from her foot.

Georgiana was pumped full of adrenalin, but she was starting to feel a little woozy. She slapped herself to keep herself focussed, it was then she felt the deepest pain in her lower abdomen she had ever had the misfortune to feel. It was so strong that she stumbled slightly and had to hold onto the kitchen unit counter to keep herself upright. Harley stomped over to her as fast as she could with her damaged foot, and thwacked Georgiana's head on the cupboard above. Georgiana fell, and Harley landed on top of her wringing her hands round Georgiana's slender white neck. However, Georgiana still had the kitchen knife, and she thrust it ferociously underneath Harley's rib cage.

Harley gasped and her mouth hung open in shock. Her hands loosened round Georgiana's neck and she moved her head so her chin lay on her chest. She saw the knife embedded in her body, and the sudden white heat of the blade that sliced through her flesh and muscles overpowered everything else she felt.

Georgiana quickly twisted the knife as it rested inside of Harley, causing her to choke on her own shock. Harley's face came ever closer to Georgiana and she whispered to the bleeding blonde girl that lay on top of her. "You should have taken the _fucking _hint."

With that, Georgiana threw Harley to the side and clamoured on top, straddling her hips. She placed the knife at the tip of her nose and delicately traced a path down to her jugular.

Harley blinked slowly and a tear dripped down the side of her face. "He was meant for me, but you came, and you took him from me..."

Georgiana stared at her, moving her face a little closer as she whispered dangerously: "I didn't take him from anybody...we just _complete_ each other."

With a sharp thrust of her wrist, the knife dug into Harley's throat. Her mouth opened and thick layers of blood spilled from her lips, mingling with the blood that gurgled over the knife's handle that stuck out from the wound.

Georgiana watched with determined eyes as Harley died underneath her. Once the convulsions stopped, Georgiana breathed out through her nose and blinked rapidly. The pain she had pushed to the back of her mind was back with a _vengeance. _She removed her hand from the blade, and slowly pushed herself up from the floor. Her stomach was on a fire, and she suddenly felt the sensation of fluid trickling down her legs.

_I can't have wet myself..._she looked down and saw droplets of blood dripping onto the floor, trailing down her leg.

"Oh God no..." She fell to the floor, and grasped her abdomen, but it was hopeless. The blood was starting to come thick and fast as she crawled her way to the tiny bathroom. Inside there was a huge white old bath tub with a shower head attached to the wall. She forced herself to climb into the tub, clutching at a towel on the towel rack to the side. The blood made it slippery for her to get a hold of the edge of the tub, but she managed finally to get in.

The pain and the heartbreak were too much, and she couldn't help but black out.

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Jack made his way back to his apartment, and he sure was in a fine mood. Falcone wanted them to make a raid on a Quinn Corporation owned warehouse that was located in the docks. In his words, it was a 'payment that they had been forced into collecting early'. He positively _relished _the idea of completely demolishing Hugo's little world, and taking it apart brick by brick.

He whistled a happy little tune as he turned the key in his apartment door, and hollered, "Honey I'm home!"

He was still smiling until he saw Harley's corpse with a knife sticking out of her neck in the middle of the room. Jack rushed towards the body and scrutinised the scene that lay before him. _Harley was here, but where was Georgiana?_

He threw down his bag and quickly plucked the knife from her neck, and screamed out Georgiana's name.

Jack spotted a trail of blood and followed it to the bathroom. He flicked on the light and the fluorescent glow fell onto to Georgiana's lifeless form in the bathtub. Jack dropped the knife and hauled her out, trying desperately not to hurt her. There was blood everywhere and he was trying to see where she was wounded, but he just couldn't see anything. He checked her pulse, and could feel she still had a heartbeat. He had to wake her up; he slapped her on both cheeks and shouted her name. He continued to do this and Georgiana started to stir.

"Georgiana, please for Christ's sake wake up! Wake up! What happened?"

Georgiana's eyes slowly started to focus as she came round. She was so pale, and her mouth tasted like chalk. "Jack? Thank God..."

"Where are you hurt? Tell me!" His eyes had that blackened edge that she loved, they would get like that when he was truly concentrating on something, blocking out all other distractions.

"Harley came over...we fought...I killed her." She breathed out.

"Yes, yes, but where did she get _you_?" He was desperate, if it was a stab wound he could treat her here, he just needed to know where it was.

"She didn't...the blood is coming from inside...the baby...Jack.." She squeezed her eyes shut, and Jack stared wildly at her, his eyes flickering between her face and chest. His heart felt like it had been shattered, and he found himself having trouble breathing. His forehead came down upon hers and he gently closed his eyes.

"Georgiana...I need to get you to a doctor...I know someone we can go to." He carefully picked her up, and told her to put her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the floor.

Jack carried her bridal style outside to the van he sometimes used for 'business' as quickly as he could without causing her too much pain. He couldn't take the whimpering she was making, it was like someone had torn his soul in half every time she cried. Jack placed her gently into the passenger side, and ran round to the driver's side, tearing the door almost off its hinges.

He drove them to a secluded part of the Narrows, where there stood a tall, Gothic building in between various dilapidated and abandoned warehouses. Jack gingerly picked up Georgiana again from inside the van and ran over to the building and rang the doorbell.

A huge bear-like man opened the door and glanced at Jack. "You want Doc?" He bellowed.

"What do you fucking think? YES!" He cried.

The doorman rolled his eyes, and made way for Jack to enter. The doorman called after him and Jack sprinted down the hallway, "No need to be rude Jack."

Jack turned round the corner, and ran into an office where a white haired man sat filing pill bottles of differing sizes. The man lifted his head sharply as Jack burst in, and his black rimmed glasses almost slid off the end of his nose.

"Doc, you gotta help her! I think she's had a miscarriage!." The man known as Doc leapt up from his seat, and barked at Jack.

"Follow me – hurry!"

Doc led him down the rest of the hallway, to a makeshift hospital room. This place was clearly where members of the mob came to be stitched up, it wasn't like they could just waltz into a normal 'civilian' hospital. They needed somewhere that could be trusted to be discrete.

Jack laid Georgiana on the bed, and Doc came up to the side of her and spoke gently to her.

"You've lost some blood sweetheart, is there any way on earth that you know what blood type you are?"

Georgiana nodded slowly, "The doctor told me when I went for a blood test when I got pregnant...it's A+"

"Shit that's lucky!" Doc cackled and Jack threw him a warning glance, and he quickly sobered up. "You're gonna be fine, I just need to give you a blood transfusion."

"Great..." Georgiana weakly smiled at the old man.

Jack watched the doctor as he worked on Georgiana, and he felt himself slip inside a dark corner of his mind. He was devastated, but at least she was going to be OK. Jack plonked himself on a chair by the side of a desk, and placed his head in his hands.

Doc finished up hooking Georgiana up to the transfusion, and walked over to Jack. "It might take an hour or so for it to have any effect."

Jack looked up and nodded, "Thanks Doc."

"You wanna drink or something?" The old man looked kindly down at him, he felt bad for these two kids, he really did. In his profession, he had seen some horrific sights, especially working for the mob.

"Coffee, if it's going? Black."

Doc nodded, and looked back at the girl lying on the bed. "Why didn't you take her to a real hospital?"

Jack raised his eyebrow and honestly answered, "She's an escaped mental patient and there's a dead girl at my apartment."

Doc's mouth formed an 'o' shape and he nodded his understanding; too many questions would be asked if they went to a legitimate hospital. He turned and left the room to make the coffee.

Jack stretched from the chair and walked over slowly to Georgiana, watching her as she slipped in and out of consciousness. He stroked her soft hair and kissed her gently on the forehead, closing his eyes as he did so.

"Thank you for not dying...I would have killed you if you had." He whispered into her hair. He looked down at her and saw that she had heard him, and a pale smile graced her lips.

"I don't doubt it" She said quietly, "Jack, I'm so sorry..." before she could finish, he shook his head.

"_Don't _apologise...just get better."

She nodded at him, "OK, I'm working on it..."

They stayed like that for a while, him leaning over her and whispering loving words in her ear as she lay back and felt her strength slowly returning.


	27. Chapter 27

Big shout out to lovely reviewers! gaarasgrl19,The Burlesque Mistress 92, Franlucylucci, iwishtheskywasgreen and...Guest! You guys are awesome and your feedback is really appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to review! :D *Hands cookies out to you all*

I'm sorry it's taken a little longer than normal to get this chapter out, I've been soooo busy! Anyhoo, hope ya like it! :D

**Please note, I've split this chapter in two...just because I didn't have time to finish it and I was desperate to write and get on with the story! Hope you understand, and you won't have long to wait for the next half, which will be with you on Friday! xx**

Disclaimer: shmishclaimer

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**Chapter 27**

It was dark as Jack drove the van towards the deserted area of Gotham Docks with a face like thunder. His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard he began to lose the feelings in the tips of his fingertips. The van finally stopped at a broken looking pump-house that sat idly near the dock side, Jack swiftly emerged from the van and stalked to the back doors. He opened them carefully and slipped out an extra long khaki coloured duffel bag, which he roughly slung over his shoulder.

Jack walked to the edge of the dock, and peered over into the murky river water. He could just about make out his face in the water's reflection, the paleness of his face and the black orbs looked straight back at him like a spectre. He suddenly lifted the bag from his shoulder and dumped it directly in the river, where it made a deep splash and bubbles of air that had been trapped inside started to appear haphazardly on the surface of the grubby water. The bag started to slowly sink down lower and lower as Jack watched with a numb heart. Once the bag had fully submerged, a bitter smile broke out on his face and he placed his hand into his jeans pocket. Gently he rubbed the smooth handle of his switch blade as though this simple action would ease his own heartbreak. He knew all about the feeling _hate. _Yes, they were old friends by now.

_Bet she never thought she'd end up like this, _Jack thought cynically to himself. _Good riddance, Harley._

He stood there silently burning up inside; the anger, the acidic _loathing_ that he felt for that girl had not subsided with her death. Jack cracked his neck to the side to try and ease the discomfort, but it was no use. He also hated this new feeling that he had recently discovered ...failure. He felt like an utter _failure. _Because of him...his baby was dead and his girl had almost been killed. The desolation shook his core violently as the stench of guilt soaked through him; _you should have killed her, when you had the chance. But you liked tormenting her too much..._his head echoed with sorrow, and his face became hardened from it. Jack let a low grunt as he swung round and headed back to the van.

Tonight was the night, Georgiana had decided. She had a thirst for revenge, and he was going to give her everything in his power to quench it. Tonight was going to be their own _special _monster's ball at Quinn Hall.

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"Thank you for coming tonight Jonathan. I'm sorry I couldn't talk properly with you yesterday." Hugo Quinn offered his guest a seat at the magnificent table in the sumptuous dining room, and poured him a glass of merlot. "It's always _hellish_ at the office to try and have an in depth conversation with anyone." He laughed brightly.

"It's completely understandable, especially as the topic was quite _sensitive_..." Crane trailed off as Hugo lifted his head casually to direct a questioning look at him. Hugo leaned back slightly in his chair and swirled the red wine in his glass.

"So, you met Georgiana did you? Did you meet her _friend _too?" he said sourly.

Crane maintained the blank look on his face as he replied, "Is her friend the one that got her pregnant?"

Hugo paled as soon as the words left Crane's mouth, "Excuse me?"

"Georgiana was pregnant when she was admitted to Arkham. I'm sorry I thought you knew." Crane took a delicate sip of his wine, "This is _beautiful_ by the way. I love red." He raised his glass to his shocked host. "Cheers, Hugo."

"I'm sorry...would you please excuse me for a moment." Hugo scooted his chair back and strode out of the room, leaving a slightly amused Crane alone in the dining room.

"Oh dear, did I let the cat out of the bag." He whispered to himself, his bitterly cold eyes dancing with delight.

Whilst Crane was downstairs revelling in his misdemeanour, Hugo had fled to his study where he was trying to stem a mild anxiety attack. He unsteadily downed a tumbler of scotch, his throat burning as the fiery liquid ran down his throat. He couldn't take any more surprises; it felt like his whole life was crashing down all around him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. _What next, what could possibly happen next?_

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Georgiana and Jack stood outside the huge door that was the entrance to Quinn Hall. She was wearing another shirt of his, but she still had to make do with her Arkham trousers and the white pumps the patients were forced to wear.

Holding each other's hands, Georgiana could feel Jack's pulse beating through the tips of his fingers. She turned to him with a loving smile and asked "Are you ready?"

He tilted his head down and gazed wickedly at her "Are you?" Georgiana nodded and pulled him towards the right of the large patio area in front of the doorway. A metal crowbar slid from out of his jacket sleeve as they approached a large window; he moved in front of Georgiana and smashed it and the little glass pieces fell to the floor like scattered diamonds. Jack stuck his hand through the hole he had created in the window, and turned the little old fashioned lock to open it.

With a slow swish noise, Jack lifted the window open carefully and climbed through it stealthily. He turned round and helped Georgiana through and placed her gently on the ground. Jack swiftly caught her mouth in an intense kiss, which made Georgiana's mind go blank as she leant into him wanting more. He pulled away slowly and looked down at her with a thoughtful expression . "You did, uh, bring the _Smylex _didn't you?"

Georgiana rolled her eyes comically back at him, reached into her pocket and wiggled the vial of green liquid he had given to her in Akham. "Please, give me a little credit , will you?" She replied.

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_**Smash!**_

Crane turned around sharply at the noise he had just heard. He was still alone in the dining room after being abandoned by Hugo, and was feeling distinctly insecure after hearing what sounded like glass shattering.

He stood up and tread softly towards the door, and opened it a crack. Crane could see two shadowy figures the unlit corridor walking towards the dining room. He hastily pulled back from the door and panic set in. He dashed about looking for a suitable hiding place, until he saw a little serving hatch at the other side of the room. Running towards it, he saw it was an old fashioned dumb waiter that had two little panels that slid up and down vertically to allow servants to place meals in them so they could be delivered to the dining room via a pulley system.

He opened the hatch and stepped inside. Thankfully he was so slim, he managed to fit into the space provided with relative ease. Crane inwardly gasped as he peeked through the slit of the hatch doors and saw Georgiana and a young male enter the dining room.

They were hopping madly about the room, tasting tidbits of the meal and drinking the wine from the bottle. Crane shuddered as he imagined about all of the germs that would undoubtedly be passed onto the rim of the bottle.

His eyes sharply focused on Georgiana, as she went to kiss the male as soon as he slammed the wine bottle down on the table. Crane held his breath as he watched them embrace, and how the male's hand dipped lower to grab her rear and then gave it a rough squeeze. Georgiana laughed as she kissed him, and took her lips away from his and breathed out: "You taste wonderful."

Georgiana moved away from the male and went and sat in the seat that Hugo had been occupying.

She sat there regally, taking her time to get herself adjusted. "He always sat here, you know? I always wondered why...surely you would want to see the room at a different view or angle or _something. _But nooooo, daddy had his special seat, right here."

Crane watched as the young male plonked himself on the walnut sideboard, and murmured "I think I'll go find him, and then we can have our little _toast _to new beginnings." He leant forward and cried mischievously at her "We're so damn _fancy_!" The young male then cackled wildly and bounded from the room in search of Hugo.

Georgiana picked up the glass that Hugo had been drinking from, and set it down in front of her. She raised a vial of green liquid and popped open the lid. Crane blinked as he remembered that she had tried to poison him in Dr. Arkham's office, and wondered if this was the same stuff she had used. _Well, I'll soon find out._

She poured in a substantial amount into the wine glass, and a little puff of green smoke emanated from the interaction.

Crane reached into his own pocket, and felt for a little can he kept in there. He always kept a little of his fear toxin on him, just in case of emergencies. One quick spray of his toxin would make anyone lose their marbles, and he could overpower them through sheer terror.

Out of nowhere, the young male burst into the room, strong arming a very stressed looking Hugo in with him. He threw Hugo down into a vacant dining chair opposite Georgiana, and then stood behind him, grinning at Georgiana.

"Hi, _daddy. _How's tricks?" She said innocently.

"What in...GOD'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Hugo bellowed. The young male behind him whacked him on the side of the head, and he cried out in surprise.

"Gee, I thought you would be glad to see your only daughter?" Georgiana mocked him. "Don't you think bygones should be bygones?"

Hugo was livid, his face had gone from ghostly to beetroot in a matter of minutes. "You are no _daughter _of mine." he scowled.

The young male flicked a switchblade and held it under Hugo's chin. "Now, now, be _nice. _All she wants is to make things good again..." he said darkly.

Hugo visibly gulped and narrowed his eyes at Georgiana. "What do you want?"

"I just want to put the past behind us. What do you say?" She smiled genially at him. "Shall we drink on it?" She pushed the poisoned glass towards him slowly.

Hugo looked like he was about to vomit. He whispered as though he was in pain, "What have you done to it?"

"Drink it, or I'll _make _you drink it." She muttered violently at him. Her breathing had intensified and she watched him like a hawk.

Hugo's hand shakily reached out and he grasped the glass. He brought it hesitantly to his lips, and paused. Crane watched as Hugo downed the entire glass, spilling some of it down the sides of his face.

Georgiana rose from her seat and walked towards her father. She stopped and as she stared at Hugo, she spoke "How long does it usually take?"

Suddenly, Hugo let out a piercing scream that had both of them clutching their ears. His eyes quickly glazed over, as the poison started to affect him. He was sweating and shaking, and shrieking horribly.

"Get away, all you _devils! _I know you want to keep me, but I don't want you to!" He got up and ran out of the room wailing and screeching. Georgiana followed close behind her father and hollered back at the male in the dining room "This stuff is great, Jack!"

Crane saw that he and the male Georgiana called 'Jack' were now in the room alone. Jack was standing with his back to the hatch, a little way further up the room. Crane took the opportunity to slowly open the hatch and quietly step onto the floor. Jack sensed something was in the room with him, so he turned around and came face to face with a pair of striking blue eyes.

Before Jack could respond, the stranger sprayed him in the face with some sort of substance. The room instantly throbbed and hummed, and Jack couldn't control what his senses were doing to him. A black haired goblin with eyes made of blue fire bore down at him, and Jack felt himself falling through the floor.

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**Authors note:**

**Part 2 of this scene will be with you tomorrow...I really wanted to get at least some of this chapter out tonight! I wish there were more hours in the daaaaaay! xx**


	28. Chapter 27b

BIG BIG thank you's for The Burlesque Mistress 92, iwishtheskywasgreen and Guest (OMG I feel so bad just calling you 'guest' :S what is your naaaaame?) I'm so glad you think Jack is realistic! I got the idea from a quote on the Joker by Heath Ledger – he said something like: 'He may be a psychotic, manipulative, highly intelligent, mass murdering clown...but he's still just a man'. Even though in the comics and movies he is portrayed as the villain with no empathy...I do think he must have had _some_ at one time or another, he is human after all. It would be completely different version of empathy that you and I would feel though. That's why in my story he can only really be kind or loving towards Georgiana, and no one else.

Anyhoo – another song for the playlist is Massive Attack, 'Tear Drop' (aaaand it's a Joker tribute video as well! :D) link is on my profile!

**2nd half of chapter 27...let's call it chapter 27b... :P and be aware the next chapter *sniffle* will the last in this story...until the sequel ,that is :D**

Disclaimer: *tumbleweeds roll by*

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**Chapter 27b**

Jack lay on the dining room floor as Crane hovered over him, watching him intently. He was completely still on the outside, but his eyes were wide and remained unblinking, his face soaked in shock. His reaction to the toxin was perplexing in the extreme to Crane. Normally, anyone would be screaming their lungs out like a madman – but not this guy. If only he could open a window into Jack's mind, he would have been able to see the walls of his psyche brutally fracturing itself into lots of tiny, jagged pieces.

Crane bent down and got as close as he dared to Jack's face, to see if he could find anything. His blue eyes scanned over him, scrutinizing every detail – but there was nothing. Jack's body jerked violently for a few moments, and Crane almost wet himself as he fell back onto his ass in surprise.

"Jesus..." He wheezed out. Crane stood up, warily looking at Jack to see if he had any more shocks in store for him. He brushed himself down and walked in a slightly more hurried way then usual straight out of the dining room. Once he had exited, he felt a lot calmer than he did watching that guy act like a stiff plank. _I really should leave, but I might just leave them all with a parting gift._ He thought to himself with glee.

Crane sauntered towards the telephone in the hallway. He picked it up and dialled 911.

"Police department...I'd like to report a break in..."

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Back inside the dining room, there was a _monster _trying to get out of Jack. He could feel it clawing its way from inside his belly and try to emerge from him somehow. It was laughing at him, telling Jack that there was no going back now. It spoke to him in such a _creepy_ voice too; the intonations were all over the place, the levels of the voice kept dipping up and down so much that he struggled to understand what it was saying at first:

_**Aw, come on Jack. Don't be a spoil-sport...we can have so much fun together, and finally do all the things that you were born to do. **_

_**But you need to let me out, Jack. Then you'll see...all the things we can accomplish. **_

_**DO IT! **_

Jack blinked rapidly and slowly started to convulse on the floor as the monster roared at him. He clutched his head and rolled onto his side, quickly bringing his knees up to his stomach.

_**LET ME OUT!...I'LL KILL HER IF YOU DON'T! Don't push me, Jack!**_

Jack choked back an angry sob as the monster threatened to do a number of unspeakable things to Georgiana. That was when he knew was defeated. Jack shakily got up; he was twitching and shuddering furiously which made him lose his balance a couple of times as he repeatedly fell to the floor.

He managed to lever himself up gradually using the dining table as a crutch. Jack spotted a carving knife that lay next to the now cold roast chicken on a sliver serving platter. Jack grabbed the knife and held on to it for dear life as he propelled himself towards the large gilded mirror that hung behind him.

In the mirror he saw his mouth was slightly open, but when he opened it wider he could see a pair of eyes gleaming back at him. Jack was hypnotised as the monster winked at him and spoke again:

_**Let. Me. Out. Jack. **_

Jack lifted the carving knife to his face robotically, and ripped his right cheek open. The blood poured forth with no mercy.

_**Yes! That's it Jack!**_

His eyes narrowed as he sliced his left cheek open next; the fire of pain only excited the monster more as it howled wildly with laughter upon feeling the intense heat from the wound. Jack closed his eyes and let the relief wash over him, he had done it. He had done what it had asked for. He slowly opened his eyes again, and screamed at the horrifying vision he now saw in the mirror. A grimy, dirty, _laughing _clown was grinning at him with a blood red smile.

_**Ah Jack, now we'll always be smiling...we'll always see the funny side! Ha ha ha ho ho hee hee aha!**_

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Georgiana had been gloating over her father's descent into madness, as she watched him try to climb the walls of his study to escape from the imaginary demons that continued to tease and torment him.

She had been laughing heartily at how he was now destined for the nut house himself, but abruptly stopped when she heard a gut wrenching scream come from downstairs. Georgiana's heart stopped as she heard the pure _suffering_ that the scream contained. She sped out of the room leaving her father and raced down the stairs as fast as she could to the dining room.

Georgiana burst through the door and had to keep herself from vomiting as she saw Jack screaming at himself at the mirror, with both his cheeks split in half. Blood dripped down from the flaps of flesh that hung loosely on his face, and even trembled slightly from the noise he was making.

"Jack! Jack! What have you done?" Georgiana ran over to him and tried to grab his arm. He looked completely out of it as she attempted to get his attention. He kept wailing and running from her, telling her not to come near him.

"Jack Please...we need to get you home." She pleaded with him. He wouldn't listen and raced around the room, over tables and chairs, batting her away. So she did the only thing she could think of. She picked up a huge silver tray, and struck him over the head with it. From the heavy impact, Jack collapsed to the floor like a rag doll, and Georgiana murmured her apologies to him.

"I'm sorry but I had to..." She grabbed his legs and lugged his unconscious body out of the room. It took forever, but she managed to drag him outside to the van that was parked outside of Quinn Hall. Once she reached the back of the van, she threw the doors open and hauled Jack inside. Her hands were trembling as she brushed over his hair and felt the soft waves.

"I'm going to make you better, I promise Jack...if it's the last thing I do...I love you." She kissed his forehead, lingering there for a moment before she made a dash for the driver's seat.

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They wouldn't leave Hugo alone. He begged, _pleaded_ with them, but nothing worked. The devils and demons twirled and swirled around him, trying to torture him as much as they could. Hugo had managed to find a gun in one of his office drawers, and attempted to aim at the beasts that flew around his head, but they were far too agile for him to get a decent shot.

Hugo didn't notice his study door swing open and three policemen enter cautiously with their guns raised. Officer Blake was one of the officers that had been called to the scene after the mysterious tip off. He couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Hugo Quinn, crouched on top of his beautiful Italian desk, his hair all mussed up and his eyes completely crazed with fear - waving a gun randomly around the room.

"Hugo, put the gun down." Blake called out to him. Hugo whipped his head round and saw three more black bodied ghouls stalk towards him.

"Stay away! I mean it!" he cried out.

"Hugo, it's me, John Blake! You remember me? We spoke about Georgiana...your daughter."

Hugo let out a massive, high pitch screech and Blake cringed as the noise hit his ear drums like a runaway train. Hugo locked onto the officer next to Blake and yelled "Devil!" before pumping a bullet into his chest. Blake acted quickly and winged him with a shot from his gun. Hugo released the gun, and the remaining officer shot him in the thigh.

"This is Blake, we're gonna need an ambulance. An officer is down and there's a perp causality." Blake spoke into his police radio with a hollow voice. He hadn't been prepared for whatever the hell had occurred in Quinn's house, and now his colleague had paid the price. He bent down, and felt for his fellow officer's pulse, but there was none. Blake's head bowed and he squeezed his eyes shut as he swore under his breath. He felt an acute anger at the pointlessness of his colleague's death, and he stared up at the bedraggled form of Hugo that lay on top of his desk. Blake snorted and raised himself up, striding determinedly from the room.

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Georgiana had found Jack's special 'first aid' kit that he kept in a large metallic box in his bathroom cabinet. It was like no other first kit that she had seen, mainly because it was filled with certain 'implements' and hard core prescription drugs. She plucked out some surgical needles and thread, and did what she needed to do for Jack.

She sat by the edge of his bed, and had tried to clean the wounds as best as she could with the antiseptic wipes, but there was just so much blood. Every time she wiped, it seemed to anger the wound severely and more blood seeped through onto her finger tips. Once his lacerations were as clean as she could make them, she began to nervously stitch his face back together. Tears fell down her face as she thanked God he was still unconscious and couldn't feel her ripping the needle through his skin. If he had been awake, she knew he wouldn't fuss but she hated the thought of how much pain he would surely be in...and God, when he would finally wake up...she hoped she could find some industrial strength painkillers for him.

Georgiana was not a natural nurse, and she realised that she was probably doing a horrible job, but then again she had no other choice. She was still horribly confused as to what had actually happened...why had Jack done this to himself? He clearly wasn't in his right mind, _something _had occurred whilst she was upstairs with her father. _Why did you leave him alone, you idiot?! _She shouted at herself inside her head.

Once she had finished, she looked miserably at him. Her hand gently stroked his forehead as she wept bitter tears for him. She didn't give a damn what he looked like, it had never been about that. She loved him mind, body and soul - no matter what. What she was worried about was his potentially fragile state of mind that had caused him to do this to himself. He even _ran _away from her, and this thought made her chest feel like it was collapsing in on itself.

A wave of tiredness hit her like a brick wall, as the weight of the evening finally took its toll. The exhaustion and emotional turmoil made Georgiana feel like a zombie, and she staggered to stand up and strip off her clothes with great effort. Dumping them unceremoniously on the floor, she crawled onto the bed naked and snuggled up to Jack. Her head lay on his chest, and she heard his even and deep breathing. The motion helped her to relax a little, but the uncertainty still hung over her like a bad smell. She was genuinely frightened for her lover; would he still be shrieking at her to stay away from him like he had earlier? Even though he was asleep, she decided to talk to him and get her feelings off her chest.

She spoke softly, "I don't know what happened Jack, and you don't even have to tell me. Just please, don't tell me to go away...I don't think I could, you know. Without you by my side, I think time would just stand still." Her eyes focused on the pale skin under her fingers as she stroked the downy fair hair that adorned his chest. "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." She whispered slowly into his skin, embedding her words into him.

_Oh God Jack...try to fight it...please._

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**Author's notes – the quote 'Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies' is by Aristotle. **


	29. Chapter 28

Thank you to iwishtheskywasgreen, The Burlesque Mistress 92, gaarasgrl19, gymnstgrl, RosalieRowen, Franlucylucci and PromiseMeCourage for reviewing! *throws a big ol' party for you guys with copious amounts of cake* :D

Last chapter here, peeps... I felt really sad writing it, as it is a little depressing :'(

Just to let you know the last part has kind of a flash forward into the future to set up the sequel... :O

Last two songs (both VERY different, but they kind of fit for J + G) 'Coming Undone' by Korn, and 'By Your Side' by Sade. Yes, my tastes are wide ranging LOL! Links are on my profile like always :D

Disclaimer: Er, sorry...my dog ate my disclaimer?

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**Chapter 28**

Jack sat at the table, and watched Georgiana as she slept soundly on his bed. His shoulders were slumped forwards, making his upper torso slouch over the table. He shuffled his deck of playing cards briskly in his hands, the sound of the cards _rapping_ against each other filtered through the room sharply. The monster was still incessantly whispering insidious words to Jack; all the while, his sad eyes surveyed Georgiana as it continued to lull and seduce him.

Also, he now resembled a _monster. _When he had woken up this morning, his face had been faintly paralysed from the sheer pain of what he had done to himself. Jack had stumbled out of bed and trawled through his first aid kit for painkillers to try and dull the throbbing soreness that plagued his face. When he had reached the bathroom and finally looked up in the mirror, a macabre giggle had inexplicably burst out from his mouth. The bags under his eyes stretched a little as he raised his eyebrows, turning his face this way and that way so that he could take in the full extent of his excessive wounds. _Not so pretty anymore, huh Jack?_

Georgiana stirred and Jack abruptly came out of his thoughts and found himself staring at her again. He wanted desperately to touch her, but his whole being was numb, and it wasn't because of the painkillers he had taken. _It's funny how the exterior now reflects the interior, hey Jack? _The monster inside gloated at him. _A regular child of sorrow._

Georgiana's eyes gradually fluttered open and she caught Jack staring at her. She lifted her head quickly, not realising she was staring hard at him. Jack lowered his head, but kept his eyes locked on hers as Georgiana's brain slowly awoke from her slumber. His wolfish demeanour did not alert her to the potential danger he was trying to control within himself.

A tear dropped from her green eye, and Jack snorted his obvious contempt. She looked at him with abject confusion, to which he leant back in his chair and shrugged slightly. "Didn't happen to you." he murmured, as he looked sullenly down at the floor.

She scrambled up from the bed and stood shakily, her face riddled with hurt and despair. "You're right, it didn't! But what did happen to _you_, Jack? One minute you're fine, the next I find you like –" Georgiana was cut off brusquely by Jack barking at her.

"LIKE what? Hmm?" he rose up from his seat, with a look so devastating, she had never seen it in his eyes before. "Why are you even still here?" He growled.

Georgiana was genuinely flabbergasted, "_What_...the fuck? You think I would _leave_ you because of this?" She walked up to him and whispered harshly, "you _know _me better than that..." She saw a flicker of the familiar devotion in his eyes, but that warmth was rapidly covered with a cold glaze.

"You don't _understand..._what has happened here." He lowered his head so his nose was inches away from hers, "My true self came to me last night..." He squeezed his eyes shut, and raised his hands to his head as though he was suffering from an intense migraine. Jack staggered away from her, into the kitchen area and randomly thumped his fist onto the counter making Georgiana flinch. However, she wasn't so easily put off.

She stormed over to him and grabbed his forearm roughly; he raised it slightly trying to pull away from her, but she still held on. Inwardly, Jack was scared shitless in case he should lash out and hurt her – he felt so completely _unpredictable. _He settled on giving her a vicious look to try and ward her off, but she carried on regardless, "Fight it, Jack. Just _fight _it." She stared deep into his dark eyes, her green ones flashing with her love and fighting spirit, "_We _can fight it, together! " He tore his arm away and roared into her face with such violence, it made Georgiana shrivel up inside.

"THERE IS NO _'TOGETHER'_! I destroyed everything! You almost died, our baby DID DIE!" His eyes were bleak and wild as his voice took on a creepy tone, "I was moulded for chaos and unhappiness. That's what I'm for. It's part of the natural order." He waved his hand dismissively.

"Jack, please...did you take some of the poisoned wine by accident?" Georgiana was desperately trying her hardest to understand her lover's state of mind, but Jack just howled with laughter at her suggestion.

"No, I just..." He wheezed out his laughter like the joke was just _too funny, "_...got to know the real _me." _He giggled at her. However, he stopped suddenly as he witnessed the tears that were now streaming down her face. His features slumped sadly and Jack felt a weight tug his heart down; he reached out his fingers to touch her beautiful face, but something stopped him and he slowly curled his fingers back into the palm of his hand.

A sharp pain stabbed him in the head, and he grunted loudly. Georgiana attempted to comfort him, but he brushed her off. "Jack, we should go and see Doc...maybe he can help you?"

Out of the blue, he quickly gripped her by the arms, and held her tightly. Georgiana felt a sudden panic rise in her chest at this unexpected action, but she kept her voice firm and even as she spoke. "I trust you. I trust you not to hurt me." Jack was shaking and trembling, but he still held onto her for dear life. He almost looked possessed to Georgiana, as though he were fighting with some unknown force for dominance over his body. His face contorted as much as it could with his stitches, as he stared down at her, so many unreadable emotions flashed across his face. When he finally spoke, it seemed like he was having trouble getting the words out of his mouth, "You...need to leave...please...I may..._hurt...you." _A single tear slid from his eye, but his face and body were still shaky, "I would die...rather...than...hurt...you..."

He abruptly let go of her and ran into the bathroom, where he slammed the door shut. Georgiana could hear clattering and banging, and Jack doing God only knows what in there. Georgiana stood on the other side alone, stunned into submission. She looked down at her own trembling hands, "I think you may have broken my heart, Jack." She whispered quietly to herself.

A surge of denial swept over her and she started to scream at the top of her lungs. "No, no, no, no! I won't leave you!" Georgiana ran over to the bathroom door and started hammering on it relentlessly. "Do you hear me Jack? I will never give up on you! And I know you won't give up on me either! Stop lying to yourself!"

The bathroom door swung open and Jack leapt out at Georgiana. He roughly forced a cloth over her face that reeked of some sort of chemical or spirit. Jack held onto her as she tried fiercely to escape his grip, and waited patiently for her to slip into unconsciousness. Slowly her movements began to get less and less as the chloroform took effect, until she was finally out cold. Jack lay her gently down on the ground, throwing the cloth over his shoulder and knelt down beside her.

Jack felt for his switchblade in his right trouser pocket. He pulled it carefully out as he tried to keep his shaking to a minimum. His left hand went to caress her lovely white throat, and gradually slid round to the back to touch the nape of her neck. Jack brought his blade downwards, while his other hand emerged from the back of her neck with a coppery tendril of her soft hair. His blade sliced through her hair, the sound of it being cut would be a sound he would never erase from his mind, however hard he would try. Jack wound the lock into a circle, and placed it tenderly into his shirt pocket. He looked down at Georgiana with a heavy heart, "You'll thank me in the end...I just..."he stroked her cheek, "...look if you _need _me..." He wavered and removed his hand from her face, and looked longingly down at her.

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"Hey Georgie, how are you feeling?" A warm voice guided Georgiana back to consciousness as she came round.

"Charlotte? Is that you? Where...where am I?" Georgiana was starting to get annoyed at how often she woke up in strange places.

"Shhhh, Georgie. You're at my house, safe and sound." Her lovely friend wrung out a pale lavender washcloth in a bowl of water, and placed the cooling fabric on Georgiana's forehead.

"How did I get here? I don't remember how..." Georgiana's head was spinning as the fragments of the argument with Jack burst into her mind.

Charlotte looked slightly vague, "Well, I'm not too sure about the _logistics..._but yesterday, I was about to step out at lunch, and there you were...bundled in a blanket on the front porch."

Georgiana looked blankly at her friend, but she snapped herself out of it, "Thank you...for looking after me. I'm sorry I've been such a..._shitty_...friend." But Charlotte merely looked at her like she was crazy.

"I wasn't the one that was locked up by her douchebag of a dad in _Arkham!" _Charlotte shook her head sadly, "Karma's a funny thing..."

Georgiana glanced at her friend, "Why do you say that?"

"Because _Hugo Quinn _has been committed..." Charlotte removed the cloth from Georgiana's forehead and rinsed it again, "Apparently he went schizo and shot a cop at point blank range in his home." Georgiana hoisted herself onto her elbows, and raised her eyebrows. "Good. Let's see how _he_ likes it in there."

Charlotte jumped slightly as though she had remembered something, "Ah, I found this in your blankets...I don't know what it means?" Charlotte handed the over the object to Georgiana. She took it delicately in her fingertips and twirled it round...it was a playing card, a Joker to be exact. "Me neither..." Georgiana muttered and traced the knave's face that smiled enigmatically up at her.

Charlotte had left Georgiana to get herself dressed. Charlotte had kindly lent her some clothes for the time being, and assured Georgiana that she could stay at her home for as long as she wanted. She was astounded by the_ goodness_ of Charlotte, the pure generosity of her actions made Georgiana feel magnificently inferior to her remarkably forgiving friend. But she couldn't help but selfishly let her mind wander back to Jack. Her soul had been torn in two by his horrific words...she couldn't believe that he had discarded her, thrown her away like garbage But, Georgiana still craved him, and if she were honest with herself, she probably would never stop craving him. And she had a niggling thought that sat at the back of her mind that told her that he felt the same. This however did not stop her from feeling utterly devastated...and _furious_. Georgiana flumped down onto the edge of the bed and cradled her head in her hands. Her stubborn streak started to shine through as she thought to herself, I_ meant what I said, Jack. I'll never give up on you...but I fucking hate what you've done. _She knew deep down inside, that their last moment together in his tiny flat in the Narrows...would not be their last. Not by a long shot.

Georgiana squeezed back a tear, as she finished getting ready and made her way downstairs to join Charlotte, and the next phase of her life that awaited her.

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**~5 years later~**

**She had finally sold Quinn Hall, to none other than Bruce Wayne himself. She had watched him carefully as he sauntered around the beautiful rooms, taking in the subtle grandeur of the decoration. **

"**Why would you want to sell your family home, Miss Quinn." Bruce asked her politely. "It's your history."**

**She arched an elegant eyebrow as she gave her answer, "Well, Mr. Wayne...it is a little too large for one, don't you think." **

**Bruce laughed warmly, and Gotham's most prized bachelor regarded her with a new admiration. At 25, he was only a few years older than her, but Georgiana had oddly always thought he was younger . She had also thought he was a complete asshole when they had met at parties... _but when you got the guy on his own...he's got some hidden depths, that's for sure. _Georgiana thought to herself.**

"**Pleasure doing business with you, Bruce." She shook his hand, and they turned to walk out of his new property together. As they strolled to their respective cars; his - a sleek, silver Lamborghini, and hers -a dark blue e-type Jaguar convertible, Bruce casually asked her how her new job was going.**

"**It's going pretty well actually; the Gotham Herald is a great place to start out as a journalist. Getting stuck into all those hard hitting stories about...animal fashion parades, z-list celebrities opening up brand new 7-elevens..."**

"**You have just started there, Georgiana..." he drily remarked.**

"**Oh I know, I know..." She waved her hand in the air, "but my God, if they don't put me on something big SOON, I'm going to go _crazy!" _She cried out. Bruce glanced over at the beautiful, red headed woman that walked beside him so confidently. "I can't attend another creepy cat fashion show..."**

"**I'm sure you'll get a big story soon enough." He laughed, and added smoothly, "Did you, uh, want to go and get a bite to eat somewhere?"**

**Georgiana looked at him, and put her hand to her chest and said, "Mr. Wayne...I must think of my reputation!" He smiled at her, and it reached his grey eyes, "Another time perhaps, though." She said sincerely.**

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**Author's note: Yeeesss Georgiana's a journalist when she's older! :D but don't worry, I'll go in to her life in more detail...soon :P**


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